


We Won't Give Up On You, Even If You Give Up On Yourself

by allhailthenerdmage



Series: The World Beneath the World [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Magic, Banshee Bruce Greene, Demon Geoff Ramsey, Demon Griffon, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fae & Fairies, Fae Lindsay, Faery Jon Risinger, Faery Trevor Collins, Fluff and Angst, Geoff doesn't even give a fuck, Hurt/Comfort, Jack is a good mom, Laboratories, M/M, No Smut, Now with more Funhaus cause I love them, OT6, Phoenix Elyse Wilems, Poltergeist Michael Jones, Questionable Bonding, Reaper Lawrence, Seer Adam Kovic, Shapeshifter James Willems, Siren Miles Luna, Undead Jeremy Dooley, Vampire Gavin Free, Werewolf Jack Pattillo, Werewolf Matt Bragg, Witch Ryan Haywood, Witchcraft, not in the sexy way tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-09-25 05:24:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 28,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9804407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allhailthenerdmage/pseuds/allhailthenerdmage
Summary: Jeremy is running. He has no idea what is chasing him, but he is running. Then he meets Jack, Ryan, Gavin, Michael, and Geoff. They show him the only kindness he can even remember and he stops running.But something is still chasing him.





	1. The First Hurdle

Everything fucking _hurts_ . Jeremy’s legs are basically numb, his knees feel like they’re going to crumble under the pressure of running on asphalt and his skin burns. But he presses on, the constant threat of _something_ behind him spurring him on. A soft voice in the back of his head urges him to make a turn into the forest running parallel to the road. Unable to come up with a better plan, Jeremy makes a quick check over his shoulder and uses what has to be the last of his strength to break through the tree line.

Branches and leaves crunch under his shoes. The noises only add to Jeremy’s panic, it's impossible to be undetected this way. He can hear heavier footsteps following after him, sounding almost like a fucking _dragon._ Jeremy can’t even remember what he’s running from.

In the distance he sees a house, huge and ominous. The soft voice gets louder. Screaming nonsense into his brain, pointing Jeremy towards the house. It says the house is safe. Having no reason not to trust the disembodied voice, Jeremy makes a final break to the house’s front porch.

He jumps and lands heavily on the old wood of the porch. Frantically, he turns to see if the creature is still chasing him. The footsteps have stopped and Jeremy’s heart leaps as he looks around, there’s nothing there.

Relief floods him and simultaneously the adrenaline rush drains away, leaving him boneless and heaving for breath on a strange house’s porch. The voice has gone completely silent for the first time in over a month. For once, the world feels uncomfortably quiet.

That doesn’t last long though, as the door to the house opens with a shrill creak. Jeremy shoots to his feet despite the near constant ache. He’s ready to run the other way should he have to.

A man steps out of the door, he doesn’t seem to be holding anything or even look threatening in the slightest. He’s tall, or at least looks it from Jeremy’s position on the ground, and has a thick red beard. The voice speaks up again, it's quiet but insistent. _This man is not a threat._

As Jeremy debates whether or not to run, the man locks eyes with him. _Shit._ It looks like running isn’t even an option anymore. The man gives Jeremy a once over before kneeling down next to him, still far enough away that Jeremy can run.

“Are you alright?” He asks. Jeremy almost doesn’t register the question, he’s busy staring at the man’s eyes. They’re bright _gold_. Too bright to be human. He shakes himself out of the momentary trance and nods.

“I-I think so,” Jeremy attempts to get to his feet. Just as he gets up, his knees give way and the ground comes rushing up to greet him. The man catches him just in time, strong arms holding Jeremy like he weighs nothing. And well, he probably does. He hasn’t eaten properly for a long time.

“Woah there,” The man’s voice rumbles deep in his chest, “How about I take you inside? Ryan can take care of you there.”

Jeremy can’t even protest, the feeling of being off his feet for the first time in what feel like forever is almost euphoric. His head is absurdly heavy as the man stands up, lolling against his shoulders. Darkness edges at his vision as he’s carried into the house and the voice tells him one last thing before he passes out; _You are safe now._

* * *

 

He wakes up to yelling and a warm blanket wrapped around him. The ache has significantly diminished, though his joints still burn as he tries to sit up. Jeremy manages to lift his head off the pillow just enough to look around before a horrible headache sets in. The pillow muffles the sound of his head falling but it still catches the attention of the man sitting at his bedside.

It's not the man that had brought him inside, that much Jeremy can tell. He lacks the other man’s bushy beard and height. This man is unusually pale, with wide eyes. Just like the other man, his eyes are an unusual color, a dark shade of red.

His surprise must have shown on his face as the smaller man grins raises his eyebrows playfully. Jeremy attempts to look around again but his body refuses, falling back against the pillows for the second time. The new man sighs and helps Jeremy to sit up, propping him up against the many pillows in the bed.

From this position Jeremy can see who’s yelling. It's the man that brought him inside and another, smaller guy. This one is basically see through and floating a few feet off the ground so that he could be face to face with the red headed man. If he was anyone else, Jeremy might have ran screaming from the sight of what had to be a ghost. But with the day he had just endured and the fact that his body refused to do anything other than look around, he simply turned to the red eyed man with an utterly confused look.

“Yeah, he’s a lot to get used to.” The man replies, shaking his head fondly. “I’m Gavin, the guy who saved you is Jack, and _that,_ ” He gestures towards the floating man. “Is Michael.”

“‘m Jeremy,” He manages to say, voice cracking with disuse. “What _are_ you?”

Gavin’s eyebrows shoot up and Jeremy worries he’s said the wrong thing. Then the man grins and shrugs, “I’m a vamp, kinda obvious. Jack’s a wolf, and Michael’s a ghost. But I’m curious,” He rests his elbows on his knees and leans closer, “What are _you_? You don’t even have a heartbeat.”

Jeremy opens his mouth to answer, he doesn’t even have a clue. He knows his name and nothing else, he hasn’t known anything for a long time. Before he can answer, the large man - Jack - interrupts.

“Oh, he’s awake? How is he feeling? You’re not bugging him are you, Gavin?” The latter laughs at Jack’s rapid fire questions and holds up his hands in surrender.

“Sorry, Jack. And yeah, he’s alive-ish.” Gavin gets up and Jack takes his place next to Jeremy’s bed. Over Jack’s shoulder he sees Gavin grab Michael’s arm and drag him away, leaving him and Jack alone.

The apparent ‘wolf’ looks over Jeremy carefully and gives a soft sigh of relief as he notes that nothing is broken. He smiles at Jeremy and offers him a glass of water from the table beside the bed.

“Sorry about the noise, Michael likes to yell.” Jack apologizes, “And Gavin always has like, fifty thousand questions. What’s your name?”

“Jeremy, “ He replies, swallowing his huge gulp of water, suddenly realizing how thirsty he is. “Where am I exactly?”

“You’re in our home,” Jack answers cheerfully, “It’s a mansion in the middle of a forest so we’re pretty safe from everything.” Jeremy nods thoughtfully, that must be why the voice urged him to get here. “But you still found it,” Jack muses, “How?”

Jeremy contemplates lying for a moment, he didn’t really know _how_ he had gotten to that forest or how he had ended up running right towards the house. But has the strangest feeling that Jack would know. He sighs and shrugs.

“I have no idea,” Jeremy answers, “I was running and I kinda just-”

“Ended up here?” Jack finishes, he shakes his head with a fond smile. “That would be Ryan's doing. He's a witch,” He explains at Jeremy's confused expression, “His magic exudes a kind of ‘safe-zone’ for supernatural creatures, it's what drew me and the others here.”

“Supernatural creatures?” Jeremy frowns, “Then what am I?”

“You don't know?” Jack asks incredulously, “You're undead. At least from what I can tell, you don't have a heartbeat.”

Jeremy doesn’t even know how to respond. His hand rests on his chest, right above his heart, waiting for the familiar feeling of blood thrumming through his body. It doesn’t come. True to Jack’s words, his heart remains still in his chest. His eyes widen and it almost feels like he’s going to cry.

If Jack feels pity, it doesn’t show. The wolf’s face remains calm and almost apathetic. He sighs and glances over his shoulder, “If you’re feeling well enough, I want to introduce you to the others. And Ryan should take another look at you, just in case.”

It wouldn’t really hurt to meet them, Jeremy reasons, they might be able to help him. So he nods, attempting to sit up for the third time. This time he manages to get to his feet before almost collapsing, only saved by Jack’s arms. The larger man laughs softly and helps Jeremy to stand, “Careful there. Don’t want you to hurt yourself, again.”

They make it to what has to be the living room fairly easily, Jeremy leaning heavily on Jack as they walk.

As it turns out, there are four others, including Gavin and Michael, who Jeremy doesn’t see. The taller of the new two is lounging on the couch, toying with what looks to be a circle of silver with a small crystal set in the center. He hold the object up to the air and it starts to float. Suddenly Michael materializes in the room, clutching the thing in his hands.The ghost thanks the man and settles on the arm of the couch. The man’s eyes are piercing blue, short blonde hair tucked under a black beanie. His neck is adorned with strings of crystals and beads, as well as a bracelet of white stone on his right wrist. This must be Ryan, the witch.

The other man on the other hand, is all but terrifying. His eyes are completely black, lacking an iris or sclera. Long horns are perched atop his head, glinting black in the light from the living room light. He grins at Jeremy as Jack sets him down on the couch beside the blonde man.

“So you’re the undead Jack found,” He says, leaning against the wall. Jack rolls his eyes and slaps the other man’s arm.

“Leave him alone Geoff, he’s tired and confused.”

“Does anything hurt?” The blonde man asks, he must be Ryan. He turns and looks Jeremy over gently. “You might feel sort of sick, or disor-” Ryan sighs as the word fails to come out properly and falls silent, making Geoff laugh. “Disoriented. My healing is a bit rusty.”

“I feel pretty good,” Jeremy replies, “But my head's a little fuzzy.”

“That’s fairly normal,” Ryan nods, “It should wear off in a few hours.” Jeremy manages a smile. Jack was right, even being near Ryan puts him at ease, soothing the near constant anxiety he’d been feeling for days. It feel amazing.

“So,” Jack calls Jeremy’s attention back to him and smiles. “You’ve met Gavin, right? He’s a vampire.” Said man grins, putting his sharp canines on full display. Jack rolls his eyes and points to Geoff. “This is Geoff, he’s a demon. If that isn’t obvious.” The mentioned grins and gives a mock bow. “That’s Michael, our poltergeist.” Who crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. “And that’s Ryan, the one who patched you up.”

“Thank you,” Jeremy smiles, “I dunno what would have happened if I hadn’t gotten here.”

“You probably would have died,” Geoff interjects, picking at his nails. Jack slaps his arm again and Jeremy is reminded of an old married couple.

“ _Anyway,_ ” Gavin rolls his eyes at the pair. “Where did you come from? We live in the middle of a forest, that’s a strange place for an undead to be. ‘Specially during the day”

Jeremy shrugs, he has no idea. The only thing he remembers from the last week or so, is running. He doesn’t even know _what_ he had been running from. So he tells them as such.

Ryan perks up, “Do you think whatever was chasing you is still in the forest? We could catch it and find out what it is.”

“I dunno,” Jeremy shrugs, “It might have run away to safety, it didn’t like when I got to the porch.”

Jack nods thoughtfully and Ryan toys with his bracelet, leaving the room in an uncomfortable silence.

Finally, Gavin glaces out of the window and sighs heavily. He pushes himself off of the couch, “Welp, I gotta go to bed. Have fun with these dorks.” Jeremy frowns but nods,

“It was nice to met you.” Gavin gives him a weird look,

“You’re gonna stay right? You shouldn’t go out in the sun for too long.”

“Oh,” Jeremy stares at the floor. “Is-Is it alright that I stay here?” He asks Jack, playing with his fingers.

“Yes!” Ryan blurts from beside him, “Of course you should stay! Something was chasing you, it’s not safe.”

Jack nods along, “Ry’s right. You should stay here, at least until the sun goes down. You’re still not feeling that well, right?”

Jeremy just nods, feeling a tad overwhelmed. He didn’t really have a choice from what Jeremy said, undead were not supposed to go into sunlight. Just as he feels like he’s going to implode, Jack puts a warm hand on his shoulder. It grounds him as he stares up at the wolf.

“I’ve got a spare room upstairs, come on.” He says, “But it's right next to Michael’s so I hope you don’t mind yelling.”

The ghost makes an indignant sound but Jack grins at him as he leaves the room. Even while they walk away Jeremy can hear the others laughing from the living room, a warm feeling engulfs his heart, or whatever was in his chest now. They sound like a family

* * *

 

There’s a small moment of panic when Jeremy wakes up as he realizes he doesn’t know where he is. Then Michael’s familiar frustrated voice filters through the wall and the events of yesterday come flooding back.

Jeremy is dead.

Well, _un_ dead technically. He can see it when he looks in the mirror now. His skin is paler than normal, almost translucent, putting his veins on full display. His eyes are basically the same, other than the fact that his sclera are yellow. And not a bright yellow, but a soft yellow-ish green that reminds him of rotting meat and bruises. The only new development internally, is that Jeremy has stopped needing to breath. Upon realizing that he is in fact, dead, Jeremy realized that his lungs are rather pointless. 

His pulse is gone as well, but Jack had already told him that. Jeremy wonders if he still has blood in his veins. He’s half tempted to cut open his arm to check, then his common sense comes back and he’s glad he didn’t. 

Jeremy checks the window and smiles, the sun is going down. It dyes the horizon a nice shade of red. He decides to head down stairs now that the sun is gone, maybe he can grab some food. Does he even need food? Well, he’s about to find out anyway.

Only Gavin is in the kitchen, the others apparently sleeping, apart from Michael, who is still yelling in his room. The vampire has a mug cradled in one hand while he browses the tv channels. Hesitantly, Jeremy sits down next to him. It still feels awkward being in a house with what are, essentially, five magical strangers. 

Gavin looks over, almost surprised. Then he grins, ‘After-mornin’ Jer.”

“Hey Gavin,” Jeremy replies, chuckling at the vampire’s joke. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” He says with a sigh. “Downside of being awake at this time of night is that nothing good is on tv, only reruns and shitty horror movies.”

Jeremy nods, though he disagrees; shitty or not those movies alway managed to scare the shit out of him. He must have said that out loud as Jeremy grins at him.

“Well now we  _ have  _ to watch one!” He exclaims, flipping through the channels, looking for a movie. Eventually he settles on  _ The Gallows _ , one of those shitty found-footage movies that came out a few years ago. As expected, the story is shit and Jeremy laughs a few times during the movie. But the scares and loud music do manage to make the both of them scream occasionally, much to their dismay. 

Michael comes down about halfway through the movie, he sits on the floor between Gavin’s knees and is silent, other than laughing at the pair whenever they got scared. To his surprise, Gavin falls asleep near the end. His head rests on Jeremy’s shoulder, while his fingers are twirled in Michael’s hair, where he had been playing with the ghost’s locks for a good twenty minutes. Michael carefully, takes Gavin’s cup, apparently filled with hot chocolate, and sets it on the table before settling back against the couch. Vaguely, Jeremy wonders why Gavin can touch Michael but has a feeling that the ghost would not appreciate the question.

The movie finishes and Jeremy looks over to find Michael passed out. He floats a few inches off the floor, head heavy against his chest. After a small internal debate, Jeremy gets up, careful not to wake Gavin, and lifts Michael onto the couch beside the vampire. His skin, or whatever it is, is cool to the touch but Gavin doesn’t shy away. Instead he clings to the ghost like a small child, arms around his waist to keep him anchored. 

Jeremy sighs and heads back upstairs, maybe he could sleep for a bit more. He finds Ryan standing at his door, playing with his bracelet. It’s beginning to look like a nervous tick to Jeremy.

“Good evening?” Jeremy keeps his voice quiet to not wake anyone else, but Ryan still jumps. He spins around and looks ready to fight until he realizes who had spoken. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Oh,” Ryan smiles sheepishly, “It’s my fault, I’m jumpy tonight. But I heard screaming, are you alright.” 

It's Jeremy’s turn to be sheepish, “Yeah, Gavin and I were watching a horror movie.” Ryan laughs, shaking his head.

“That makes sense, where is the little blood sucker? Usually he’s messing with someone about now.”

“He’s sleeping,” Jeremy gestures down the stairs, “Him and Michael.”

Ryan nods and shrugs, “Do you wanna go do something? They’re sleeping, so’s Jack. And Geoff has disappeared for the night.”

“Sure?” Jeremy replies uneasily, “Can we even go outside?”

“Of course we can, the sun is down and I’m basically human. Though,” Ryan gets uncomfortably close to Jeremy for a moment. “I’d suggest we get you some shades, your eyes are fairly terrifying.”

If he could blush Jeremy is fairly certain he would be beet red about now. Ryan pulls back and heads down the stairs, prompting Jeremy to do the same. They sneak past Jeremy and Michael, but not before Ryan snags a blackmail picture. 

The night is cool, but it fails to affect Jeremy as he lacks body temperature. But Ryan shivers beside him, “Jesus it's cold,” He grumbles. 

Apparently Jack has a truck, they use it to go into the nearest town for groceries every two weeks or so. Ryan takes the keys from the glove compartment and asks Jeremy where he wants to go.

“Um, can we go get some food? I’m kinda starving,” Jeremy asks, excited. Ryan nods and starts up the truck.

“Can you even eat?” He asks as they start driving. Jeremy shrugs,

“No clue, but there’s nothing else to do so I might as well try.” Ryan laughs quietly but doesn’t say anything else. 

They go to a burger place, one of the only things open this time of night, even then there are only like four people in the whole restaurant. Ryan orders for Jeremy so he can keep his head down. 

Jeremy cannot eat. The second the bite of burger touches his tongue he feels like throwing up. It tastes of ash and dirt, he can’t even pretend to swallow. He nearly spits it back onto the tray they had been given, drawing a concerned look from Ryan, who sets down his own food and puts a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. 

“Are you alright?” He doesn’t answer, can’t. Nothing is right, he’s not breathing, he can’t even _eat_ , his heart is _still_ _in his chest._ _He’s not even human anymore._

It takes him a moment to realize that he’s curled into a ball on the bench, hands clamped tightly around his ears. He is aware of Ryan’s hands heavy on his shoulders. They ground him. He knows where he is. His hands come down from over his ears slowly, held carefully by Ryan. A low, soothing voice reaches his brain and Jeremy takes a stuttering breath, though he doesn’t need to. Ryan talks and his voice vibrates against Jeremy’s chest as he is pulled closer to the warlock. It almost feels like a heartbeat. Slowly Jeremy calms down, taking deep breaths for no other reason than he feels he should, it convinces his brain that everything is okay. Ryan’s hands do not leave his own and he remains firmly attached to the warlock’s chest. 

“Are you alright?” Ryan asks again, chin resting securely on his shoulder. Jeremy manages to nod and lets a shaky smile stretch his lips. 

“Y-Yeah. Yeah,  I think so.” 

Ryan smiles and pulls away from him slightly so that he can look Jeremy in the eyes. The smaller man leans after him, chasing the warmth. “Why don’t we go do something else?” Ryan asks, voice soft and gentle. “I wanna show you something.” 

“But-” Jeremy protests, “You payed for this.”

“It's fine Jer, promise.” Jeremy’s nonexistent heart skips a beat at the nickname. He likes it.

“O-Okay.”

Ryan throws the food out while the employee isn’t looking and leads Jeremy down the street by the hand, his grip is still gentle and he glances back every once and awhile to make sure Jeremy is okay. The concern is refreshing after being alone for so long, the feeling of someone simply  _ caring  _ is enough for Jeremy to grin widely as they make their way down the street. 

They reach a storefront tucked between a department store and a bar. It's small and modest, with a small window in the front filled with plants and flowers. Ryan retrieves the keys from somewhere in his jacket and swings the door open for Jeremy, gesturing him inside. 

The interior of the store is cluttered but for some reason, Jeremy doesn’t mind. A shelf of crystals sit against the farthest wall, framed by what Jeremy assumes are runes painted onto the wall. The plants in the window extend all around the store, varying from common flowers to herbs in a long planter that dominates the space behind the counter. 

Ryan settles on top of said counter, hands wide in welcome. “My home away from home.” 

“Wow,” Jeremy really doesn’t have words that do the sight justice. “It's . . . amazing.”

“Not really,” The warlock shrugs, “Gavin’s warlock friend has a bigger shop downtown, he’s got a lot of specialty items.”

“Like what? Unicorn horn and newt’s eye?” The smaller man jokes, to which Ryan shakes his head thoughtfully.

“Nah, unicorns have been extinct in America for a few hundred years. But he does have newt’s eye, it's pretty basic though. If you really wanted specialty you’d ask for dragon scales or angel feathers.” He pauses and seems to realize that Jeremy was joking. The warlock’s face erupts in a blush and he rubs a hand over his face, “Sorry. You were kidding, right?”

“Kinda,” Jeremy admits, “But do angels seriously exist?”

Ryan nods, “Or course. Geoff exists doesn’t he? Two sides of the same coin.” He laughs as Jeremy’s mouth drops open in surprise. “Are you going to be alright?” He asks, amused.

“Yeah,” Jeremy closes his mouth quickly.

He finds himself grinning as Ryan laughs loudly from his perch on the counter. The warlock’s eyes are closed, lips split in what Jeremy considers one of the most beautiful things he’s ever seen. For a few minutes, everything feels okay. Jeremy is safe and he has Ryan. 

The warlock seems to realize that he was staring and blushes even darker, playing with his bracelet again. Curious, Jeremy reaches over and points to the band of crystals. 

“What is this?” 

“The bracelet?” Ryan slips it off his wrist, “They're crystals, selenite. Its supposed to bring good luck and protection. My mother gave it to me.”

“Does she live in the town?” Jeremy asks offhandedly, entranced by the light seeming to come from inside the crystal. Ryan stiffens and begins to spin the bracelet in his hands. 

“No, she-uh-she’s gone.”

Immediately Jeremy goes silent, unsure of what to say. Should he try to comfort the warlock? Would he get upset?

Against his better judgement, Jeremy reaches up and takes one of Ryan's hands into his own. Like he had done at the restaurant.

“I'm sorry.”

“It's fine,” Ryan assures him softly, “She's been gone for a long time, they both have.” He pauses, as if debating whether or not to say something. 

“They died in Salem, during the witch trials.”

“That's like three hundred years ago, how old are you?” Jeremy asks, mouth falling open again.

Ryan laughs quietly, “Old? I lost count a few hundred years ago. I was sixteen when my parents died.”

“How-” Jeremy isn’t sure how to ask. Or even if he  _ should  _ ask. “How did you survive? Why didn’t they kill you?”

Ryan sighs and holds out a hand. Fire dances across his knuckles and collects in his palm like a fiery pool. “I killed them.” He shakes his head, closing his fist and snuffing out the fire. “I let them kill my mother, and just  _ watched _ them kill my father, then  _ whoosh _ .” He mimicks an explosion with his hands. “I set our entire neighborhood on fire and let those fuckers burn. I didn’t even care. I lost control.”

The warlock shrugs, one hand tight on his bracelet. He doesn’t speak again, like he’s waiting for Jeremy’s reaction. 

Jeremy doesn’t even know how to react. He feels like he should be horrified, all righteous fury and shit. But he’s not. He’s just, relieved. Relieved that Ryan is still here. He says as much, still holding Ryan’s hand. 

“Thanks,” His voice is soft, as if he is about to cry. “I’ve never-uh I never lost control again, if that helps.”

“I trust you,” Jeremy says simply.

“Why?” And  _ shit _ , Ryan’s voice breaks and he clutches Jeremy’s hand tightly. “ _ Why  _ would you trust  _ me?  _ You barely know me.”

“You saved my life,” He replies. “Why wouldn’t I trust you?”

Ryan is silent as he pulls Jeremy closer, arms wrapped around the smaller man’s shoulders. Jeremy doesn’t respond other than to wind his own around Ryan’s waist. He feels wetness seep into his shoulder and holds tighter. 

By the time they drive home, Ryan is smiling and the sun is rising. He grins and tells Jeremy old stories about the others as they pull into the driveway. All the while Jeremy watches him with extreme fondness.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Waking up to Michael's yelling will never  not  be terrifying. For a split second Jeremy is scared that the house is being attacked. Then he hears the ghost scream something about Swiss cheese and sighs.

He heads down to the kitchen after making sure that the sun had gone down, mostly in search of some company. Jack is awake making coffee, something Jeremy found that he could drink. Though it never tasted just right, he still enjoyed the familiar action and smell.

“I heard you and Ryan took the truck out last night,” The wolf says, sounding every bit the disappointed mother Ryan had described him as. 

“Yeah. We-” Jeremy pauses, what had they done really? “We just kinda talked for a while.”

Jack regards him with a thoughtful look and smiles softly. “Don’t worry, it takes awhile to get used to all this. But you’ll find your place.”

Jeremy nods, smiling up at Jack. The words, no matter how hollow sounding, actually manage to comfort him. He’s right, Ryan found a place, didn’t he? And Gavin, Michael and Geoff. 

“But  when? ” Jeremy asks softly, staring down at his fingers. “How long did it take you?”

Jack chuckles, stirring his coffee. “A while honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was  ever  going to find a place. But it was actually Michael that found me.”

“How?”

“I ended up in this house one night after I shifted,” Jack explains, “Michael is tied to this house, he died here, so he thought I was just another human to fuck with. But as soon as he saw that I wasn’t human he tried to talk to me.” 

The wolf laughs and points to a dent in the kitchen wall. “That was his idea of  talking,  he almost killed me with a toaster. I didn’t come back for almost two weeks but I did, mostly because he was the only other non-human I knew about. We actually talked even though I couldn’t see him and I ended up moving in here. It was the first time I wasn’t worried about killing someone when I shifted. It was amazing.”

“And now there are a lot more of us,” Jack gestures towards the rest of the house. “I met Gavin in town, then Ryan followed us. And Geoff is a  whole  other story.”

“Wait, what happened with Geoff?” Jeremy asks, intrigued. Jack shakes his head, grinning.

“Ask Ryan about that one.”

He nods and accepts the mug of coffee Jack offers him. The drink almost tastes the same, though Jeremy has to add an extra spoonful of sugar as the coffee is almost too bitter to swallow. He’s glad for the small reminder of humanity, as well as Jack’s reassuring smile.

* * *

 

Gavin busts into his room a few hours later, grinning like a madman. 

“We have to go buy groceries, you wanna buy some random shit?” 

“Wait,” Jeremy puts down the book Ryan had given him, “You can go out in the sun?”

The vampire looks exasperated, “Uh, yeah?” He says it like it should have been obvious so Jeremy just smiles and nods, getting up to follow Gavin down to the truck. 

As they stop in the living room Jack hands them a list and a small coin engraved with letters Jeremy can’t read. The wolf explains that it's a daywalking charm and should protect him from sunlight, just as it does Gavin, courtesy of Ryan. As Jeremy slips the coin around his neck his skin tingles.

“You’re going to have to drive,” Jack says, “Gavin can’t drive. And honestly I don’t think I would trust him to drive anyway.” He grins and ruffles the vampire’s hair, making the smaller man squeal.

“Ass,” Gavin huffs as he drags Jeremy out the door.

Jeremy manages to remember Ryan’s route from the night before and make it into the town, following Gavin’s, admittedly contradictory, directions. Jack’s list is fairly normal, aside from the ungodly amount of Red Bull, apparently for Michael, so Jeremy manages to find everything, except ‘headlight fluid’ which was added onto the bottom of the list in sharpie. When he asks Gavin, the vampire just rolls his eyes and grumbles something about Geoff. As Jeremy pays for the groceries, the vampire tosses an armful of chocolate bars onto the pile. And as they get to the truck Gavin insists on riding on the cart and nearly topples it over, still managing to knock a good amount of bags out of the cart. 

Jeremy groans and bends down to grab the bags. Suddenly he collapses, pain blooming across the back of his head. He hears Gavin yell and a hard thump, the sound of a body hitting the ground. In what feels like slow motion, Jeremy lifts his head to see if Gavin is okay. The vampire is on the ground a few feet away, kneeling in front of a man, he’s been knocked down too. Gavin sneaks a look at Jeremy and upon seeing that he’s okay, lunges at the man. 

They hit the ground and Gavin’s eyes flash with an unearthly light. He growls and bares his teeth, leaning in to tear into the man’s shoulder. The man’s screams bring Jeremy out of his trance and he pulls Gavin off of him, blood staining the taller man’s mouth.

“Stop!” He cries, “Stop! He’s already down, just stop.” 

Gavin rounds on him and growls again, eyes still glowing and still bearing his teeth. He latches onto Jeremy’s neck and snaps his jaws shut. In his delirious state Jeremy almost laughs, he  does  still have blood. As Gavin drinks from him, darkness starts to eat away at the world. Jeremy manages to grasp the vampire’s shoulder with the last of his strength, hopefully breaking Gavin out of his rage. He feels Gavin’s fangs slip out of his neck as he fades out.

* * *

 

For the second time in two days Jeremy finds himself waking up in an unfamiliar bed with a tall, lanky vampire sitting next to him. This time though, Gavin looks as though he's been crying. His eyes are red and he's curled up in the chair next to Jeremy's bed, knees pulled up to his chest. 

Jeremy reaches over to comfort the vampire, but is surprised by how weak he is. His arms tingle but refuse to move, remaining be his sides. The undead man groans and Gavin's head snaps over to him.

“Oh thank God!” His face breaks into a grin, “How are you feeling?  Can I get you anything? Are you dizzy? What-”

“Woah,” Jeremy smiles weakly, “Woah, calm down. I’m fine.” He gathers enough strength to attempt to sit up and Gavin leaps up to help him. “Wha-What happened?” Why are we back?”

Gavin ducks his head and flops back down into his chair, running his hands through his hair. He sighs heavily, meeting Jeremy’s eyes guiltily. 

“I fucked up,” He mutters, “When that man attacked you, I lost it. And I ended up draining you, I’m so sorry.” 

Once again Jeremy finds himself feeling the wrong thing. Where he should be angry at Gavin for losing control, he just smiles. The fact that Gavin had stopped, that he hadn't killed him, puts him at ease. He trusts Gavin, just as he trusts Ryan.

His hand is hesitant at first, grasping the vampire’s hand gently. Gavin's head shoots up and he stares slack-jawed at the smaller man. Despite his disbelief, Gavin grasps his hand tightly.

Jeremy smiles again, Gavin mirroring him weakly. To put the vampire at ease Jeremy laughs quietly, feeling his strength begin to return. 

And Gavin meets his eyes, giggling his amazing high pitched giggle.


	3. Chapter 3

“I still say we should tell him,” Jack insists, “Jeremy has a right to know who attacked him.”

“No,” Gavin shakes his head, “The dude went straight for him, like he knew who he was or somethin’. He’s still in danger.”

“Fine,” The wolf crosses his arms. He settles back against a wall as Geoff and Gavin turn their attention back to their captive, the same man Gavin had bitten at the grocery store. The man is tied to a chair, kept in Ryan’s shop, who is taking care of Jeremy back at the house with Michael.

Gavin, although not menacing in the slightest, seems to intimidate the man, until Geoff steps into view. Jack rolls his eyes, the demon always had a flare for the dramatic. Geoff’s horns are wreathed in flames, eyes glowing malevolently in the semi-darkness of Ryan’s shop. He stands a few feet behind Gavin and is silent, dark eyes following the man’s every frantic move.

“Look, I don’t know what you think you’re doing. But that boy is dangerous, he’ll kill everyone!” The man cries, shaking against his bonds. “He’s not supposed to be around people yet!”

“Yet?” Geoff raises his eyebrow, “What is he, an android?”

“No!” The man exclaims, “He’s an _experiment,_ a very dangerous experiment that should not be let into society.”

Jack rolls his eyes, humans always think they’re doing the right thing. Or in this case, the wrong thing for the right reasons. But the real question is why create a man without a heartbeat?

As is picking up on the question, the man speaks again. “Look, if I tell you, you can’t kill me.” Geoff waves his hand in a non-committal gesture, which the man apparently takes as a yes. “He’s just a test run, the tech that we needed to stop a person’s heart was too dangerous to use on anyone important. So we used it on a nobody, someone nobody would miss. But we fucked it up, he wasn’t meant to actually start to _decay_. We need him back to get out results, but he won’t come willingly. He’s been running from us for months, even out best soldiers couldn’t track him down.”

Gavin growls, advancing on the man. “A _nobody?_ He’s a _person_ , a person who’s having panic attacks because of the shit _you_ did to him!”

“Are more of you going to come for him?” Jack asks, it would be important to know if there were going to be more people, Ryan would have to ward the house. The man stares at him, as if incredulous.

“He’s the product of a billion dollars of research and experiments, we need him back to study him. As soon as I don’t report back they’ll send the strongest people we have, and now we know where you are.”

The vampire rolls his eyes and, with an unusual amount of malice, nods at Geoff. The demon grins as Gavin pulls Jack out of the shop. The man’s screams are cut off as Jack starts up the truck.

Gavin refuses to talk as they drive back to the house, arms crossed over his chest, staring out the window. The wolf sighs and pulls off the road, stopping beside the highway and turning to look at Gavin.

“We need to talk about what you did,” He says. Gavin huffs but doesn’t say anything. Jack’s reminded of a temperamental teen. “You know it was wrong. He doesn’t even know what you did to him, he doesn’t know what he is to you.”

“He doesn’t have to,” Gavin grumbles, “It wasn’t right. That’s not how it's supposed to work. Its supposed to be . . . different.”

“I know,” His voice is soft, comforting. “Believe me, I know. But you have to tell him, if we’re not going to tell him about that guy, you have to explain this to him.”

“Fine!” Gavin growls again, “But I’ll tell him when I want to. Not sooner, not later.”

Jack sighs and starts the truck, “That’s all I can ask for I guess.”

* * *

 

Something Jeremy learned within an hour of actually meeting Michael, the ghost is an actual child. He giggles almost crazily at his jokes and tells Jeremy stories of Gavin, and the other’s, fuck ups. Ryan on the other hand watches them fondly and rolls his eyes when Michael starts yelling excitedly.

A few hours later Michael wanders off to play a few games of Halo, leaving Ryan and Jeremy alone. The witch smiles at him and looks over the bruises on his neck carefully. After a few uncomfortable moments, Jeremy remembers something.

“Um, Jack told me to ask you about Geoff. How he got here?”

Ryan’s reaction is instantaneous, he blushes and toys with his bracelet again. “It’s kinda a long story. . .” He trails off.

“I’ve got time,” Jeremy gestures to the couch he was currently trapped on.

“Alright,” Ryan sighs, “I was supposed to be doing a ritual, and before you ask I wasn’t summoning a demon on purpose. It was actually a familiar ritual, to summon a guardian spirit. But I fucked it up,” He laughs softly, “I flubbed the incantation and suddenly the entire circle was on fire and Geoff’s sarcastic ass popped out of the summoning gate.”

Jeremy snorts, the image of Geoff popping out of a fiery hole looking completely unimpressed is too much. He tries not to bust out laughing, but fails miserably and laughs so hard his head hurts.

“Yep,” Ryan grins, “Now that demonic dick is bound to me, forever.” Unable to stop himself, Jeremy starts laughing again, almost near hysterics.

Just as he starts calming down, Gavin and Jack fling open the door. Gavin stomps up the stairs, muttering something about going to play with Michael. Behind him Jack sighs, setting his keys down on the counter. Raising his eyebrow, Ryan calls out.

“Why does he look like he’s just been scolded by his mother?”

“He has,” Jack takes a deep breath and flops down on the couch next to Ryan. The witch sighs and puts a relaxed arm around Jack’s shoulder.

“He’s basically a teenager,” Ryan says, “He’ll come around eventually.”

“Yeah,” The wolf nods, running a hand over his face, “Eventually.”

Jeremy is silent, unsure of what to say. He feels like he’s intruding on a private moment, not meant for his eyes. Then Ryan smiles at him, “I was just telling Jeremy how I met Geoff.”

Jack’s entire face relaxes at the change of topic, grinning at him. “That’s a good one right? Never seen a demon so bored.”

And just like that, they fall into easy conversation until Jeremy ends up nodding off on Ryan’s shoulder.

* * *

 

Jeremy is woken up by the sound of hushed yelling. He’s still on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, but Ryan and Jack are gone. A few feet away, in the kitchen, he can hear Gavin and Ryan arguing quietly. Out of curiosity, Jeremy keeps his eyes closed and listens.

“Why the fuck haven’t you told him?” That’s Ryan, Jeremy has never heard him this upset. “He’s the one who was attacked!”

“Because!” Gavin hisses, actually _hisses_ through his teeth. “It’s too dangerous, we need to learn more so we can protect him.”

“Why do you want to protect him so badly?” Ryan asks, there’s a stretch of silence as Gavin hesitates. “What did you do?” His tone is suddenly accusatory.

“Look, it was an accid-”

“Shut _up!_ You have a man tied up in my shop, and you refuses to tell Jeremy about it. _And_ you bonded yourself to him without his consent.” Ryan’s voice is just above his regular speaking voice, though not yelling just yet. “If you don’t tell him, I fucking will.”

Jeremy jumps as Ryan stomps up the stairs, leaving Gavin alone in the kitchen. Without saying anything he sits up and runs a hand through his hair as his mind races. The man who attacked him was in Ryan’s shop, and Gavin was apparently _bonded_ to him, whatever that means. Why the fuck didn’t they tell him? Jeremy is the one who was attacked, and he has so many questions.

After hearing Gavin make his way up the stairs as well, probably to sulk, Jeremy gets up. He borrows Michael’s hoodie, which was thrown haphazardly over the back of the couch, and leaves a note on the kitchen counter for the others to find. He debates taking Jack’s truck, but realizes that it would be too easy to follow. So he pulls up his hood and sets off to Ryan’s shop in town.

Whatever they were keeping from him, Jeremy was going to find out for himself.


	4. Chapter 4

In all the hundred years that Gavin had lived, he’s not sure he’s ever fucked up this bad before. He comes back downstairs in the afternoon to ask Jeremy if he wants to do anything, partly to alleviate the boredom, but mostly to distract himself. But in place of the small man he finds a note on the counter and a missing hoodie. 

All the note says is;  _ Why the fuck didn’t you tell me?  _  It’s cryptic, but Gavin understands, Jeremy had been awake when he and Ryan were arguing. He had heard everything presumably.

Gavin clutches the note as he runs up the stairs to Michael’s room. He throws open the door, startling the ghost. Every part of him screaming at the thought of Jeremy in danger.

“Michael,” He all but yells, “I need help.”

“Hey, calm down.” The spirit puts down his controller and holds up his hands to placate Gavin. “What happened?”

“Ryan and I were arguing and Jeremy heard us and he found out about the guy we have tied up in Ryan’s shop so he got mad and now he’s gone.” Gavin blurts, he’s speaking so fast any other person would have no clue what he was saying. Thankfully Michael is well-versed in deciphering Gavin and manages to understand.

“I’ll go find him,” The ghost says, he pats Gavin’s back and gives him a reassuring smile. “It’ll be okay.”

Michael tosses the vampire his controller and gives him a grin, “Get me to level twenty will you?”

* * *

 

Ryan’s shop is locked, of course it is. Jeremy huffs a breath and heads around the back of the building. To his surprise, there’s a spare key tucked into a potted plant near the door. Not one to look a gift horse in the face, Jeremy takes the key and slips into the shop. 

As he makes his way into the storage room all hopes of getting answers drains away. There had been a man tied to a chair at one point, but in his place now there is a charred husk of a body. The body’s hands are splayed across the armrests of the chair, two fingers missing from each hand. On the left hand, he was missing his ring finger and his thumb. And on the right, his pointer and his pinky. 

Horrified, Jeremy stumbles backwards out of the room. His back hits the front counter and he slides down to the floor. He’s suddenly overwhelmed by the smell of herbs and burned flesh, his throat constricts and he’s thrown into a coughing fit. 

Why was the man burned? Did Gavin do it so that Jeremy wouldn’t find out? Did they torture him? Jeremy’s mind races, jumping to conclusions he knows are irrational. 

Suddenly the door slams open, sending the undead man scrambling to his feet. The few lights he had turned on start to flicker and the room drops in temperature, if Jeremy had a body temperature he’d be shivering. He glances behind him at the door and evaluates his chances of making it to the door before whatever just entered the room got to him. Considering he couldn’t see it, the thing might be right beside him, or across the room. 

Just as he’s about to make a break for the door, the air in front of him starts to shimmer. In seconds, Michael materializes in front of Jeremy, grinning widely. 

“Calm the hell down, it’s your friendly neighborhood poltergeist.” Jeremy sighs heavily, adrenaline draining out of him.

“Holy fuck, never do that again.” He groans as he sits down.

“Can do,” Michael says, he kneels down next to Jeremy. “Gav sent me to find you. He’s really worried about you.”

“Why?” Jeremy asks bitterly, “So I don’t find the dead guy he tortured? To late.”

“What?” Michael cocks an eyebrow, he gets back up and floats over to the back room. It's quiet for a moment, then Jeremy hears Michael gag and come back over. “Jesus christ, that dude is  _ extra  _ dead.”

“But,” Jeremy glances up at him, “That wasn’t Gavin. He doesn’t have the magic for that, I’d blame Geoff for that. He loves setting people on fire, crazy bitch.”

“What about the fingers?”

“Also Geoff I’d think,” Michael’s voice drops, “Gav probably let him have free reign. That’s never ended well for his victims.”

_ Victims _ . That’s what the man was, a victim. If Jeremy had never stopped running, the man would never had come into contact with Geoff. The man would still be alive if it wasn’t for Jeremy. He knew he never should have stayed, he only ever puts people in danger. 

“Michael?” His voice is soft, almost vulnerable and Jeremy is too defeated to care.

“What’s up Jer?”

“Why didn’t they tell me?”

Michael sighs and moves to sit across from him. “I don’t know. Jack and I wanted to tell you, but they wouldn’t let us.” Jeremy shakes his head,

“But now that guy is dead because of me. If they had told me, we could have let him live.”

“That’s not your fault,” Michael blurts, “Gavin would probably have let Geoff kill him anyway. He’s very . . . protective of you.”

“But,” Jeremy’s confused, “Why me? He barely knows me.”

Michael seems to regard him, expression unreadable. He’s close enough that Jeremy can see the faint freckles across his nose and a small scar on his lip. The ghost’s eyes are milky, like he should be blind behind his glasses. He reaches out and puts a hand on Jeremy’s neck, right above where Gavin had bitten him. Michael’s skin is still incredibly cold, but not uncomfortably so.

“ _ This _ , is why.” At Jeremy’s confused look he adds, “The bite. When he bit you he bonded your souls, that’s why he cares so much. You’re basically his soulmate.”

“What?’’

“When a vampire bites someone they care about, they have a chance of bonding them to each other.” Michael explains, “He’s only bonded himself to three other people. Geoff, Jack, and Ryan. He wanted to bond to me too,” He laughs softly, “But that’s impossible.”

“Wait,” Jeremy’s eyes are wide, “You guys are all together?”

“Yep,” The ghost nods, grinning. “Have been for around a hundred years. It was actually Rye Bread that got us together.” 

“Wow.”

“It’s not actually that strange, we loved each other before and now we’re just more vocal about it.” 

Jeremy just nods as he takes it in, he hadn't been wrong. The strange intimacy that he'd seen between Gavin and Michael, as well as Jack and Ryan, wasn't a trick of the mind. He can't help feeling that he's been coming in between them.

“You're not coming back to the house are you?” Michael asks, though it's phrased more as a statement.

“No,” The thought of facing Gavin, or even Geoff, is too much right now. 

“Fine,” Surprisingly the ghost doesn't sound angry. “But Gavin will kill me if you're not safe, so I wanna take you too a safe house. If that's okay with you.”

Michael's voice is surprisingly gentle and relaxed. The hand that was still resting on Jeremy's neck is rubbing soothing circles into his skin, he finds himself leaning into the touch as he answers. 

“Sure, who else is there?” 

“Two of our friends, they're pretty nice, you'll like them.”

All too soon Michael pulls away and stands up, offering Jeremy a hand up, this time he doesn't even think of asking why he can touch the ghost.

Michael doesn't let go of his hand and smiles at him. “Just follow my lead and don't look weird.”

Before he can ask, Michael fizzles out of view. He can still feel the ghost’s hand in his own, but there's no other sign of him. Michael tugs on his hand and leads him out of the store, which locks behind him. This continues until they're at an apartment building. The entire way Jeremy keeps his eyes down as to not draw attention to his obviously not human state, while he can feel Michael's comforting presence at his side. 

The apartment Michael takes him to is on the top floor. He phases back into view and knocks loudly on the door, “Open up Tinkerbell.”

After a moment the door swings open, revealing a tall dark haired man who looks fairly human aside from his softly glowing brown eyes. He scowls at Michael and crosses his arms, “I told you not to call me that  _ Micool. _ ” The man rolls his eyes and finally glances over at Jeremy, he breaks out in a grin and waves almost awkwardly. “Hey there, if you’re here against your will, blink twice.”

“W-What?” Jeremy blinks wildly, making Michael and the man laugh.

“Treyco, would you let us in? We’re a little exposed out here,” Michael gestures to his translucent body.

“Sure, sure!” The man, Treyco, smiles widely and ushers them in. 

The apartment is small but cozy looking, with a small kitchen and living room next to each other. Treyco turns to call for someone and Jeremy’s jaw drops, protruding from two holes in the back of his shirt are a pair of fluttering black wings. Michael catches the confused look and grins,

“Trevor’s a faery, hence Tinkerbell.”

“I shouldn't even be surprised anymore,” Jeremy mutters, and the ghost laughs. 

Another man comes from what has to be the bedroom and Trevor gestures for them to sit down. 

“As much as I love surprise visits, what brings you this far from the house Michael?” 

The ghost sighs heavily, “It's a really complicated story. But in short, I need you to take care of Jeremy for a while.”

He gives a short wave, smiling awkwardly. “Hey.”

“Can we ask why?” The other man raises his eyebrows as Michael shakes his head.

“Nope, its probably better if you don’t know honestly.”

“Hm, cryptic.” Trevor rolls his eyes good naturedly, “Sure, but he has to help out around my garden. That’s the deal.”

Jeremy nods frantically, “I’d be glad to help!” Trevor’s bright grin gives him the feeling the overwhelming feeling that everything is going to be alright. Michael returns the smile and pats Jeremy’s shoulder reassuringly, 

“Don’t worry, they’re pretty sane. Well, Matt is.”

Trevor rolls his eyes again and gets up to usher Michael out the door, “If this is as serious as you make it out to be, you should get back to the house before someone gets worried.”

“Little late for that,” The ghost sighs as he fades from view again.


	5. Chapter 5

He should have expected it really. The moment Michael steps foot back in the house, Gavin is at his throat. The tall vampire bares his fangs and hisses at him even though he knows it doesn't affect Michael.

“Where the fuck is he?!” Gavin grips the ghost’s semi corporeal shoulders with a force what would have broken skin, if he had any. “You said you would bring him back!”

Michael tries to remain calm, clenching his fists at his sides. “He needs some time away from you, from all of us.”

“That's not for you to decide!”

“And it's yours?!” He screams back, completely losing his cool. “Jeremy is an independent person! He can make his own decisions without an obsessive vampire hanging over his fucking shoulder!”

All semblance of friendship is gone as Michael screams, the lights in the old house flicker and he can feel the temperature dropping quickly. It would seem the house is still in touch with his emotions.

“He's _bonded_ to me!” Gavin growls, “He _needs_ me “

“He can make that decision himself!” Michael counters, “ _We_ did, or have you forgotten?”

Gavin's face screws up with anger and he lunges at Michael. Just to torment him, Michael lets his body become intangible and grins as Gavin passes right through him. Though he's untouchable, Gavin spins on his heel and dives at Michael's throat.

“Having fun?” The ghost smirks.

“Fuck. You. Michael.” Gavin grinds out as he gets to his feet. “I'm going to get him myself.”

Before he can touch the door handle, it slams shut and locks. Michael crosses his arms and glares at the vampire.

“You are doing no such thing.” His voice is surprisingly calm, “You are not leaving this house.”

“Fucking bring it,” Gavin looks angrier than Michael can ever remember seeing him, eyes glowing and fangs bared.

“You can't hurt me,” He counters. “But I'll humor you, as long as you stay in this house.”

The ghost positions himself in front of the door and cocks an eyebrow. He sighs inwardly as Gavin lunges again, this was going to be a long day.

Thankfully, Jack comes downstairs just as Gavin puts his eighth dent in the wall. He crosses his arms and lets out a growl that makes Gavin freeze in his tracks and rattles Michael’s eardrums. “What are you to doing?”

“Michael’s being a fuck,” Gavin almost sounds like he’s pouting. “He took Jeremy away and won’t tell me where he is.”

Jack turns to Michael as if to ask for his side of his story, he shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “He’s obsessed, if we let him get too close to Jeremy right now he’ll probably hurt him.” The ghost shoots Jack a pleading look, “I just want to keep Jeremy safe. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think it was necessary.”

There’s a moment of stifling silence before Jack nods and turns to Gavin. “As long as he’s safe, you should be happy. Leave him be. When Jeremy wants to come back, _if_ he comes back, he’ll do it on his terms.”

Gavin hisses and glares at Jack, “Fuck you both.” Faster than either man can follow, the vampire speeds up the stairs and into his room. The sound of his door slamming echos through the house. Michael rolls his eyes, for a couple hundred year old vampire, Gavin is a fucking child.

“Where is he?” Jack asks softly. He draws closer to the ghost, shooting him a pleading look.

“Why do you want to know? You know _he_ can still hear us.” Michael counters, “Jeremy’s safe, trust me.”

To his annoyance, Ryan and Geoff come down the stairs as Jack sighs heavily and heads upstairs after Gavin. Ryan looks concerned, while Geoff looks bored, probably dragged downstairs by the witch.

“What happened?” Ryan asks, perching himself on the couch. “We heard you and Gav yelling.”

“He wants to chase Jeremy down because he’s an obsessive dickhead.” Michael snaps, “And no, I’m not going to tell you where he is because if I tell you, Gavin will just hunt him down.”

Ryan is quiet for a moment, toying with his bracelet, then he sighs. “If he safe?”

Surprised, Michael nods. “Of course.”

“That’s good,” Ryan murmurs, “How is he?”

“Well,” The ghost glances over at Geoff, who’s picking at his nails. “He’s a little fucked up. But that’ll happen after you see a burned body missing a few fingers.” Geoff looks up and shrugs,

“I just did what Gav let me. But I think I was also supposed to dispose of the body, not sure.”

“Jesus Christ,” Michael rubs his hand over his face. “Ry, do you wanna go see him?”

Ryan perks up and grins, “Really?”

“Sure,” The ghost smiles, “He’ll like seeing you.”

“Good,” Michael fades from view and grabs Ryan’s hand. The witch laughs as the ghost drags him out of the house.  

* * *

 

To his surprise Jeremy finds working in Trevor's garden to be incredibly relaxing, even fun at times. He has a greenhouse concealed in a patch of trees, with a little help from Fae magic apparently. The lines of plants are tended to by a group of Fae that Trevor introduces by name as Jeremy is toured around the greenhouse.

“Alright,” Trevor comes to a stop before a row of roses, hundreds of colors Jeremy didn't even know existed. “All I need you to do today is to water and feed the roses. Bellamy will show you what to do, if you need any help ask her.” He gestures to a tall woman with dark skin and stark white hair She grins mischievously and floats over, not touching the ground thanks to her sweeping silver wings. “If she gives you any shit just call me,” Trevor shoots a playful glare at Bellamy. “Now, I'm off to discipline a werewolf for digging up my tulips”

And with that, Trevor slips off and out the door. Jeremy turns to the roses and sighs, utterly confused. Bellamy laughs, a soft musical sound, “Don't worry, it's simple. Just do what I do.” She hands him a pitcher of water and starts pouring water onto the roses. As the water touches the petals, the flower opens wide and swallows the water as it’s poured.

Jeremy’s jaw drops open and Bellamy laughs, “Don't worry, they don’t bite.”

Despite her reassurance, Jeremy is hesitant to get near the roses. He reaches towards the flower warily and follows Bellamy’s lead. To his surprise, and relief, the rose opens up gently and absorbs the water. He relaxes and continues watering the roses with Bellamy, it’s a nice change of pace from the last few days. Being chased around a dark forest, then attacked by a hungry vampire, and finally the cause of a random man’s torture and death. It's been a busy week, to say the least. In the back of his mind Jeremy is still worried about the others, what if someone else had come for them? But he’s also thankful for Michael letting him get away and bringing him to a safer place. Hopefully everything is okay back in the house.

By the time they had watered and fed all the roses it was noon and Trevor comes to get them for lunch. He brings Bellamy a bowl of berries slathered in syrup and sugar, and some coffee for Jeremy.

“How was he?” Trevor asks the tall faery. Bellamy laughs and responds in a different language, one Jeremy cannot understand. He glances between the two faeries as they burst out into giggles. Trevor turns to him, the wide grin still present on his face. “Don’t worry, all good things.”

“Oh,” Jeremy smiles, “Cool.”

“So Jeremy,” The dark haired faery raises an eyebrow. “What brought you to Michael’s house?”

“I-uh,” He stares down at his shoes, “I don’t really know. I remember a few things, like running and finding the house, but other than that I don’t know what happened.”

Trevor hums, brows furrowed. “That’s. . .concerning. Do you remember anything before running?”

“Not particularly,” Jeremy sighs, “My only real memories are of this week to be completely honest.”

“Interesting,” Bellamy muses, she’s floating upside down next to Trevor, hand on her chin in a mock detective pose. Trevor laughs,

“Indeed, my dear.” He sips at his coffee and returns his attention to Jeremy, “Does it bother you that you can’t remember anything?”

“Not really?” Jeremy shrugs, “If something is chasing me because of what happened, it can’t be good right?”

“You have a point,” Trevor agrees, “Sometimes bad things are best left forgotten.”

The undead man nods, it's probably for the best that he doesn’t know what happened to him. That way he can’t screw anything up or let anything slip that he’s not supposed to.

They sit in companionable silence for a while until Jeremy hears someone coming down the path leading to the greenhouse. Matt sticks his head in the glass door and shoots Trevor an apologetic look before swinging the door open. Before he can ask what was wrong, Michael and Ryan step inside. Instantly Bellamy rights herself and flies off without a single word or goodbye, and Trevor sighs as he puts down his coffee.

“Good afternoon you two, I assume Gavin is not with you.” It is not phrased as a question, almost as a threat. As if Gavin was not allowed to be here.

“Of course not, Trev.” Michael rolls his eyes, “There’s no way I’d bring him here now.”

“Good,” Trevor gets to his feet and grabs the tray he had brought the food on, “I suppose you three have a lot to talk about. I’ll leave you too it.”

And with that, Matt and Trevor are gone. Leaving Jeremy, Ryan and Michael alone in the greenhouse, which is suddenly void of Fae.

“Hey,” Jeremy waves awkwardly.


	6. Chapter 6

Ryan tackles Jeremy in a hug, almost knocking him to the ground and he buries his face in the undead man’s neck. Michael shrugs when Jeremy shoots him a confused look, smiling fondly at the witch. 

“He missed you.”

Before Jeremy can say anything in response, Ryan pulls away and grabs him firmly by the wrists. “I promise I’ll tell you everything, just never leave like that again! We’ll never keep secrets again! Right Michael?” He glances over his shoulder at the ghost, who grins and nods.

“Never.”

Ryan looks down at Jeremy with such a look of desperation that he can’t help but smile and nod, “I promise I won’t leave without telling you ever again.” 

“Good,” Ryan seems to collect himself and pulls away from Jeremy. “Now, we need to talk. All of us,” He looks pointedly at Michael.

They settle on the previously unoccupied bench that Jeremy had been sitting on earlier and the witch turns to stare at Michael, prompting him to talk. 

“So, have any questions?”

“ _ Have any questions? _ ” Jeremy splutters, “Seriously? After what just happened you ask if I have any questions!?”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Michael sighs.

“Yeah,” The undead man rolls his eyes, “First question, what is up with Gavin? You all seem to be so mad at him.”

“Gavin, is in a . . . unique situation right now.” Michael starts, “He’s bonded to you, so he has a primal urge to protect you, when you aren’t with him he gets anxious and even angry. But,” He crosses his arms, “Because you haven’t accepted the bond, everything is worse. He’s kinda lost his shit. He was throwing things and yelling this morning, that’s why Ry and I left.”

“Accept the bond?” Jeremy frowns, that sounds kinda sinister. “What does that mean?”

“It means you haven’t demonstrated romantic feelings toward him,” Ryan supplies.

“Yeah, and since you’re still away from him he’s obsessed with dragging your ass home.”

“Ah,” Jeremy genuinely doesn’t know what to say to that. “Second question then, what was that dude’s deal? The one who attacked me.”

Michael sighs heavily and runs a hand through his curls, “That dude was fucked. He talked about you like you weren’t even alive.”

“Well I’m not, not real-”

“Not the point,” Michael cuts him off. “He was from a lab, said they made you as the product of some fucked up experiment. They wanna get their  _ property  _ back,” He spits, “Apparently you are one expensive asshole.”

“Are more people coming?” Jeremy asks, nearly panicked. He’d put more people in danger. That seemed to be the only thing he’s good at. “Are the others safe?”

“They’re fine,” Ryan reassures him, “I warded the house and Geoff is there.” Jeremy flinches at the mention of the demon. “Sorry,” The witch’s hand is tangled in his bracelet.

“Anyway,” Michael brings them back on track, “He also told us that they pulled you off the street ‘cause you were a nobody that no one would miss. The experiment they did on you didn’t go right so now you’re decaying, I assume that’s what’s been happening to your memory.”

“Can we reverse it?” He’s excited, who was he before all this happened?

“I can,” Ryan says, “It might take some time, but I could do it.”

Jeremy just nods, he doesn’t really have any other questions, burning or otherwise. “Is that everything?”

“I think so?” Ryan glances over at Michael, who shrugs. “You’re being rather calm about all this.”

“Ryan,” The undead man leans forward, “I’ve just spent an entire morning gardening with a faery, I’ve been bonded to a british vampire, I’ve got a crush on a witch  _ and _ a ghost, and I’m technically dead. What else can surprise me?”

He doesn’t break eye contact with Ryan and grins as his cheeks take on a pink hue, beside him Jeremy can see Michael’s face in his hands as his shoulders shake with laughter. The witch’s mouth hangs open in shock, opening and closing like a fish out of water, which he essentially was. Then suddenly he lunges forward and crashes their lips together. The kiss is soft and passionate, while Ryan’s hands pull Jeremy closer until it feels like there is no space left between them.

They break apart slowly and Jeremy can’t help but let his head drop onto Ryan’s shoulder, he’s officially run out of bravery for the day. From the corner of his eye he sees Michael giggling, eyes squinted adorably and mouth wide in a grin. He leans up to whisper to Ryan, “I think it's Michael’s turn.”

“You’re right,” Ryan grins. He pulls fully away from Jeremy and reaches over to plant a kiss on the ghost’s lips, which are thankfully fully manifested. Michael freezes and stares at Ryan, mimicking the witch’s earlier expression. Taking his chance, Jeremy leans over Ryan’s legs and pulls Michael into a kiss. He responds with a surprised noise but doesn’t pull away, instead leaning in to reciprocate the kiss with a surprising amount of passion. Ryan picks him up and slides him over his lap, settling in between Ryan and Michael.

When the three finally catch their breath Ryan laughs softly, “Well that was . . . something.” Jeremy grins and nods from his position sandwiched between them, his head lays on Michael’s shoulder and Ryan’s head is heavy on his own shoulder. 

“Yeah,” He can’t even think of something to say. Michael snorts and takes hold of Jeremy’s hand, cool fingers twining with his own. 

“You’re both nerds,” The ghost smiles and neither of them argue. Ryan takes hold of his other hand and Jeremy lets his eyes close, the last week of excitement finally taking it's toll on him. He barely notices when he slips out of consciousness.

* * *

 

The first thing he notices when he opens his eyes is the bright lights forcing him to squint. He raises a hand to shield his eyes, only to find that he cannot move his arm. Still squinting against the lights Jeremy looks around, finding himself strapped down to a metal table. His heart constricts as he struggles against the bonds. Jeremy’s mouth drops open in an attempt to scream but no noise comes out.

As if in response to his attempt, a white clad man enters his field of view, his face is obscured by a surgical mask. The man doesn’t respond to Jeremy at all as he moves around the room, grabbing what looks like surgical equipment. He draws closer to Jeremy and grabs his arm in an impossibly strong grip. All in the same motion, the man sinks a needle deep into the junction between Jeremy’s neck and his shoulder.

Surprisingly, there is no pain. Only a cool feeling spreading from the injection site, making his body numb. Jeremy shakes his head frantically and gives a last ditch attempt to break the bonds holding him down. The table shakes but remains in it’s place. 

The man continues circling Jeremy, sinking the needle into more places around his body until he’s completely numb. Finally he stops right next to Jeremy’s head, still holding the syringe. Terrified, Jeremy closes his eyes and holds his breath. Suddenly his eyes are forced open by fingers, the man’s face hovering above his own. The needle comes down on his eye, piercing his tear duct. Jeremy screams as the metal slides into his skull, the sound finally escaping his throat. 

Then suddenly he's not on the table and the lights are dim. Jeremy finds himself on the ground, arms crossed over his face for protection. Ryan is holding him down to prevent Jeremy from hurting himself, while Michael tries to bring his arms down from his head. 

“Jeremy,” Ryan pulls the undead man to his chest, just as he had in the restaurant. “Jeremy! Come on dear, wake up.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Michael asks, finally getting Jeremy to relax his arms.

“I-I’m okay,” Jeremy manages to whisper. All at once Ryan and Michael let go of him, leaving the small man propped up against Ryan’s chest, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Michael runs a hand through Jeremy’s hair, “What happened?”

Unsure how to answer, Jeremy just shakes his head and grasps at Ryan’s shirt. Thankfully Ryan seems to understand and pulls him closer, Michael moving to the other side of him while still playing with his hair. 

When his hands stop shaking Jeremy sighs heavily and sits up against Ryan. “Are you ready to tell us?”

“Y-Yeah,” He nods, “I think I. . .remembered something.”

“Seriously?” Michael asks, he sounds excited. And, logically, Jeremy should be excited too, but the man’s face sits in the back of his mind. 

“There was a man, a doctor I think.” Jeremy shakes his head, “He was doing something with a needle. I think that’s what happened to me.”

“You remembered the lab?” Ryan’s voice rumbles against his back, “What did you feel?”

“I was scared. . .but I didn’t  _ feel  _ anything when he stabbed me. It just  _ happened _ .” 

“Jesus,” Ryan's hands are tight around Jeremy's waist. “What did they  _ do  _ to you?”

“Dunno,” Jeremy sighs, “But I wanna find out. If we can.”

“Then that's what we'll do,” Michael says with an air of finality. 

Jeremy is silent, gathering his thoughts. Finally he takes a deep breath and glances up at Ryan and Michael. “Can we go home?”

Surprise is written in their faces but Ryan nods, “Alright.” Michael shakes his head but he’s smiling,

“We should get a move on, the sun’ll be going down soon.”


	7. Chapter 7

The house is quiet as Michael swings the door open and Michael’s surprised, he’d half expected Gavin to come running down the stairs as soon as Jeremy came near the house. Speaking of Jeremy, the undead man look about ready to drop. After the last week of crazy shit and his earlier nightmare, the fatigue is unsurprising. 

They head up to the rooms and Michael takes a deep breath as he knocks on Jack and Geoff’s door. “Jack? We’re back.”

Almost instantly the door opens and Jack stands in the doorway, hands on his hips. “Welcome home.”

“Where is everyone?” Ryan asks, propping Jeremy up with an arm around his shoulder. “I was kinda expecting Gavin to tackle us right in the door.”

“He’s busy,” Jack sighs, “If you’re just going to antagonize him, I suggest you leave. Gavin isn’t in the best place right now.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Jeremy pipes up from behind Michael, “Can I help?”

Jack sighs and Michael can’t help but agree with him. “You can help,” He starts, “But you have to be ready for what happens after.”

“I understand,” Jeremy says, his voice surprisingly firm for how tired he so obviously is. “I don’t wanna put anyone else in a bad place.”

Jack looks over the smaller man and Michael sees the flicker of a smile on his face. “He’s in his room.”

* * *

 

Jeremy knocks on Gavin’s door before entering, using the doorframe to help hold himself up. He can hear Michael and Ryan waiting outside the door as he closes it.

“Gav? Its Jeremy, are you alright?” There’s no answer. The lights are off and Jeremy can only see by the light of the alarm clock on Gavin’s desk.  “Where are you? Come on Gavin, I want to talk.”

His ears pick up a shuffling of clothes from the corner furthest from the door and he makes his way over to the corner. Halfway across the room Jeremy’s legs give out and he falls to the floor with a heavy thump. He calls to Ryan and says he’s okay to stop the witch from breaking the door down to get him. 

As the room quiets again, Jeremy hears something shuffling towards him. Its tentative, like Gavin isn’t sure if he should get near him or not. “I’m okay,” Jeremy says softly, “You don’t have to keep your distance.” All of a sudden the movement stops and the undead man sighs, “Gav please. I want to talk to you, I’m worried.”

Jeremy jumps as he feel a cool hand on his wrist, touch light and barely even there. He chuckles and lays a hand on top of Gavin’s, “I’m not made of glass, come here.”

With the invitation the vampire comes closer, not quite touching Jeremy, but close enough that he can feel the cool air that follows Gavin everywhere. Jeremy sighs and slides backward as best he can on the carpet, his back making contact with the vampire’s chest. As if taking the invitation, Gavin’s arms wrap around Jeremy while his head settles in the gap between his shoulder and chin. Gavin takes a deep breath through his nose and sighs shakily, Jeremy rocking slowly in his arms in an attempt to calm the vampire.

“Missed me?” Jeremy smiles as Gavin nods against him, “Good, I missed you too. I was worried about you.”

“Really?” Gavin’s voice is soft and ragged, like he’s been screaming, or crying. 

The smaller man nods, “Of course.”

“But I hurt you.” It doesn't come out as a question, the statement laced with self-loathing. “I almost drained you. I didn't ask you if it was okay, I didn't even consider.” Gavin sounds like he's either going to cry or scream.

“But you didn't drain me,” Jeremy shakes his head, “I'm fine. And I'm not mad either.”

Gavin sighs into Jeremy’s shoulder. He doesn’t say anything else but Jeremy hears the unspoken question loud and clear.

“I know what you did to me,” He says, pushing on as Gavin tries to answer. “ But,  I understand, the others explained what happened.”

“You know?”

“I do,” Jeremy says, “Do you. . . Maybe, want to do it again?” It feels stupid, like a scene out of a shitty teen vampire movie, but he means it. He’s glad the lights are off because his face feels like it's on fire. 

Gavin presses his lips against the thin skin of his neck and Jeremy draws in a sharp breath, he can feel the vampire smiling. “ Sure .” Gavin’s voice drops, taking on an otherworldly quality as he sinks his fangs into Jeremy’s neck. 

He doesn’t know why he remembers this being uncomfortable, because at this exact moment Jeremy can’t remember ever feeling this  good . His skin tingles as his eyes roll back, head coming back to rest on Gavin’s shoulder. In the back of his head he realizes that his mouth has dropped open and he’s probably moaning, but at this point he really doesn’t give shit. 

All too soon, Gavin pulls away and drags his tongue up Jeremy’s neck. The smaller man groans loudly and Gavin chuckles, “Sorry, love.”

“Ass,” Jeremy mutters as he turns in the vampire’s hold, burrowing into Gavin’s arms.

“You do have quite a nice one,” Gavin teases as Jeremy latches onto him. “Are you going to stay awake?”   
“Nope,” Jeremy shakes his head lethargically, “‘m gonna sleep right here.”

Gavin laughs quietly and starts to stand up, bringing the smaller man with him. He stumbles a bit under Jeremy’s boneless weight but manages to stay standing. “How about we compromise? You can sleep, but we’ll all do it together.”

“All?” He squints as Gavin carries him into the hallway. 

“Yep, all four of us.” The vampire elaborates. “You, me, Micool, and Ry. Sound good?” Jeremy can’t summon the energy to speak so he nods and tightens his grip on Gavin’s shirt. He hears Gavin talking to the others and suddenly they’re heading into Michael’s room.

Gavin lays Jeremy down on the bed and the others leave the room, only to come back in with Jeremy’s bed, which they position beside Michael’s bed. Ryan throws a sheet over both the beds that will likely be discarded some time into the night, and drags the blankets from Jeremy’s room onto the already large pile in the room. Jeremy is rolled into the middle as the others chose sides of the bed. Gavin lays against the wall, arms secured around Jeremy’s waist. Michael lays next to Jeremy, pulling the smaller man into his hold. Ryan throws blankets over them all and slips into the bed behind Michael, fitting against the ghost perfectly. 

Jeremy stares up at Michael as he drifts off, a smile splitting his lips at the sleepy grin he receives, making his heart skip a non-existent beat. He thinks that maybe sleeping this much isn’t healthy, but at the same time, Jeremy’s already dead. The small man snorts at the thought as Gavin’s arms tighten around him. Fuck it.

* * *

 

The smell of pancakes and coffee drag Jeremy out of his surprisingly deep sleep. He blinks blearily and glances around the room, finding a fold-out table in the middle of the room laden with plates of pancakes, a small container of syrup, as well as four mugs of coffee. Jeremy grins at the sight and silently thanks Jack.

Looking around the bed Jeremy formulates an escape plan from between his three lovers,  lovers,  god that’s weird. He manages to untangle his legs from Gavin’s impossibly long pair and pulls them under him so he’s kneeling. Next he has to make it over Michael and Ryan, the latter of the two is face down in a pillow while Michael is basically on his back so Jeremy gathers his coordination and attempts to jump over them. 

Somehow he makes it, though not without an undignified combat roll to ensure he didn't break a leg, or the table. Jeremy ends up sprawled on the floor with a pancake he manages to snag off the table as he fell. He shakes his head and laughs into his hand, trying not to wake anyone up.

His efforts are in vain as Ryan rolls over, knocking Michael off of his back, and blinks sleepily.

“Jer? What are you...?” 

“Nothing happened,” Jeremy answers quietly, “Go back to sleep.”

Ryan stares at him for a few seconds before snorting and relaxing back into the bed. Stifling laughter, Jeremy offers him the pancake. The witch takes it and shoves it into his mouth whole. Jeremy can't hold in his laughter any longer and a loud giggle bursts out of his mouth. 

Ryan isn't far behind him and soon the larger man is out of breath from laughing. Behind him, Michael and Gavin rise sleepily, startled by the noise. Gavin lights up at the sight of Jeremy laughing, and possibly at the pancakes. But Michael just rolls his eyes and pushes Ryan off the bed. 

The witch hits the floor with a thud and Jeremy falls into another fit of laughter, spurring Gavin and Michael on with him. 

By the time they catch their breath, the coffee and pancakes are cold and Jeremy shudders as he sips at his mug. Ryan and Gavin scarf down the food and Michael hangs upside down from the ceiling out of boredom. 

As they eat Jeremy explains everything he remembers and what happened in the greenhouse to Gavin, then tells Ryan and Michael that he and Gavin had made up, which had been pretty obvious to them already. 

Jeremy gets up and stacks all their dishes as the pair of semi-humans finish eating. “I'm gonna go thank Jack for the food,” He grins and, carefully, makes his way down to the kitchen. 

To his surprise its not Jack in the kitchen, but Geoff. The demon doesn't say anything, takes the dishes from Jeremy and sets to work washing them. 

The sight of a demon, still flaming mind you, washing dishes is to seemingly out of place that if he hadn't just woken up next to a vampire, witch, and a ghost, Jeremy might not have believed it. 

Geoff finally breaks the silence as he puts the dishes away. “I wanted to say sorry,” He sighs, “I can be. . .overzealous at times. And I know that I may or may not have caused you some mental scarring.”

“So your answer was pancakes?” Jeremy jokes, smiling gently.

“Apparently,” Geoff snorts. “But I'm serious, I'm sorry. My boys mean everything to me and I went a little overboard trying to keep them safe.”

“Thank you,” Jeremy says softly, “It's good to know they have someone watching over them.”

Geoff throws an arm around his shoulder, “You're one of my boys too, if last night is any indication.” Jeremy ducks his head and thanks god that he can't blush. “I mean it, you're stuck with us now.”

“Thank you so much,” Jeremy grins, his previous fear of the demon dissipating.

“Now,” Geoff pats him on the back, “It's about time for Gav and Michael to start their Halo tournament, you should go join them.”

Jeremy throws another thanks over his shoulder and heads back upstairs to his idiots.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO! I'm back finally. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it sucked the life out of me. Also! Shout out to the beautiful human that predicted the disorder things!

Geoff warns him that something this good and domestic can't last forever, especially in _their_ situation _._ Jeremy doesn't want to put any stock in the demons predictions, but knows that he's right.

Thankfully the domesticity lasts for another relaxed week. But, true to Geoff’s word, early Monday morning everything goes to shit.

It starts at around eight, with a knock at the door. Geoff answers it, everyone else wary of another attack because really, what sane person would attack a flaming demon?

The man at the door is tall, unnaturally so, he looks to be almost a foot taller than Ryan. He gives Geoff a smile and bows, “Good day.” He doesn't even acknowledge the horns curling from his head and the fire-wrapped tail flicking around Geoff’s legs.

Thankfully Geoff just goes with the flow and crosses his arms, “What’re you selling?”

“Oh,” The man’s grin doesn’t even budge. “I’m not selling anything. I’m looking for someone.”

The demon shakes his head, “I’m here alone. Unless you count the ghosts I guess.”

Behind him Michael laughs into his hand. Jeremy slaps his arm and gestures for him to be quiet. Not missing a beat, Geoff shrugs. “There’s one now, I should go,” he swings the door shut.

Jeremy almost sighs as the man stops the door with a hand, it was probably to much to hope for the man to just leave. The man pushes the door open without much effort and takes a step inside.

Gavin scrambles to drag Jeremy out of the man’s view, into the kitchen, leaving Ryan, Michael, and Jack in the man’s sight. Jeremy hears the man sigh, “Only the ghosts, huh?”

“Look,” Geoff nearly growls, “I don’t know what you want but you better get the fuck out of my house.”

“All I want,” The man’s voice gets closer to the kitchen, where Jeremy and Gavin are. “Is what is _ours_.”

It all happens in a split second, the man lunges for Jeremy, catching sight of him as he moves towards the back of the house. Gavin steps in the way and slams the man into the ground with enough force to rattle the cupboards. In sync with Gavin, Jack grabs the man by the arms, holding them behind his back. Geoff stands a few feet behind Ryan as the witch taps his palm on the man’s forehead.

His eyes roll back into his head and the man goes limp in Jack’s grasp. As he steps back, Ryan takes a deep breath and Geoff has to catch him to prevent the witch from hitting the floor. The demon props Ryan up on a table and looks him over carefully. Once Geoff is satisfied that Ryan is okay he motions to Jack, the wolf takes the now unconscious man down a set of rickety stairs leading into the basement.

Jeremy moves to follow the pair but Michael stops him with a hand on his shoulder, “Stay with Ryan.” Jeremy glares at him,

“I’m not scared of this.”  
“I never said you were,” Michael rolls his eyes, “But I need you to make sure Ry has something to eat and lays down, he used a lot of energy to do that. If we leave him alone he’ll just push himself and pass out.”

“Alright,” Jeremy gives Michael a mock glare, “But you have to promise me that whatever happens, you tell me.”

The ghost rolls his eyes as he presses a kiss to Jeremy's forehead, “I promise.”

Michael follows the others downstairs and Ryan pushes himself off of the table to go with him. Before he can grab the railing Jeremy takes hold of his wrist and drags him into the kitchen to get food, setting him down on a chair.

“Jer, what are you doing?” Ryan attempts to get up again, “I need to go help them.”

“Nope,” The smaller man pushes him back into the chair, grinning. “ _You_ need to eat something, orders from Michael.”

Ryan rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, making Jeremy laugh. He pulls the witch into a soft kiss and wraps his arms around Ryan’s shoulders. When they pull apart Ryan sighs, “Fine.”

Jeremy grins and pulls open the fridge, scanning their meager supply of food. “We’ll have to go out for groceries soon,” he says as he tosses Ryan an apple.

“You’re oddly . . . relaxed considering what just happened.” The witch rolls the apple in his hands, “Aren’t you worried they’ll do something like last time?”

The smaller man ponders that, but shakes his head. Before, when he didn’t know all that much about the others, he might have thought that. But now, he had faith in Michael to at least reign the others in. “I wanna know what that dude was,” Jeremy admits, “He _can’t_ be a normal human, being _that_ tall? Fuck no.”

“Jealous?” Ryan ducks under a swipe from Jeremy as he laughs. Despite his protesting, the witch eats the apple.

After a few seconds of silence, the familiar sounds of Michael losing his shit can be heard. Jeremy sighs and exchanges a glance with Ryan. “You ate, and sat down, we should probably go down there.”

“Probably,” The witch stumbles as he gets up, Jeremy catching his shoulder. They make their way downstairs to the basement carefully as to keep Ryan from falling.

The scene they walk in on is unsurprising, the man bound to the ground by chains that Geoff fastened to the concrete floor and the others standing above him. Jack glances up at them and shoots Jeremy a look that screamed angry mother, but he doesn’t stop them and just motions for them to be quiet. Neither Gavin, Geoff or Michael seem to notice them come into the room so Ryan and Jeremy stand back against the wall.

“Alright bitch,” Michael kneels in front of the man, “Who are you, _what_ are you, and what the fuck do you want with us?” Unsurprisingly, the man doesn’t answer and continues staring at the ground.  “Come on, don’t be the strong and silent type. Nobody likes that.”

“You joke because you cannot understand what you are facing,” The man’s voice is dark and menacing, tone clipped and sure.

Geoff snorts and steps into the man’s view, “Why don’t you enlighten us, oh great Wise Man?”

“Why?” The man finally looks up at them, “So you may know what kills you? What do they say, ignorance is bliss?”

For the first time, Jeremy notices the man’s eyes. Just like his own, the sclera are yellow, void of most emotion. Was this man the same thing as Jeremy? Had the experiment succeeded this time?

“God you talk a lot,” Michael rolls his eyes, “I take it back, just answer the questions, Jesus.”

“Who are you?” Jeremy blurts, he makes his way into the man’s view. The man raises his eyebrows and tilts his head to the smaller man.

“Have your really not figured it out?” The man asks, “I’m you, perfected. _I_ am not decaying, and _I_ follow orders.” He was right.

Jeremy narrows his eyes, “Orders? I was never given any orders.” Instead of replying, the man laughs and shakes his head. Michael puts a hand on Jeremy’s shoulder and pulls him back from the man.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay upstairs?” he mutters, squeezing the smaller man’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Jeremy drops his head and gestures to the man, “But I have so many questions that _he_ can answer.”

Michael regards the man for a moment before sighing heavily. “I’m not going to leave you alone with him, but you can ask your questions.” Jeremy grins,

“Thank you so much.” Michael just shakes his head and moves out of his way.

Jeremy takes a deep breath and schools his face into a serious expression. The man stares at him as he walks over, eyes never leaving his own. He almost smiles, lips curled in an uncomfortable attempt at a smile.

“The prototype is able to talk? Surprising,” He says, “I was told you’d be in pieces by now.”

“Alright, let’s start at the top.” Jeremy makes an effort to ignore the comment, “What are we?”

“ _I_ am a soldier. _You_ are a mistake.”

“Why?” The man scoffs, shrugging his shoulders as best he can with the chains still holding him down.

“You’re _dead_.” He says it as if it should have been obvious, “We were meant to still live, with minimal circulation. But your procedure went wrong, your heart is completely stopped but you still have conscience. They need to study you, to figure out what went wrong.”

“Okay,” Jeremy takes in the information, frowning slightly. “Why’d they choose me?”

“You-” The man seems to reconsider and glances over at Geoff, “Hurt me.”

The demon does a double take, eyes wide. “What?”

“ _Hurt me_ , it is the easiest way to explain this.”

Instead of asking another question, Geoff’s claws grow longer and he advances on the man. In one clean slice, he splits the skin on the man’s exposed shoulder. Without even flinching, the man looks back over at Jeremy. It was almost as if he hadn’t felt it.

“What does pain feel like?” He asks, voice soft and almost gentle, if Jeremy didn’t know any better. The smaller man hesitates, what did it feel like? He remembers his skin tingling in the sun, but no pain. He remembers the slight discomfort Gavin’s fangs had caused him at first but cannot recall the _pain._ Even while he was running, all he can remember is his legs tingling and the discomfort of being tired. Jeremy’s face screws up in thought, and he looks back down at the man.

“I don’t know. Why don’t I know? What’s wrong with me?”

The man sighs and shakes his still slightly bleeding shoulder, “I don’t now either. _That_ is why we were chosen.”

“What is it?”

“Full terms? Congenital insensitivity to pain, also known as Congenital Analgesia. We cannot feel pain. It varies in severity but we still lack the ability to feel, or respond, to pain.”

“What does a lab want with that?” Jeremy asks, “What could that possibly offer them?”

“Imagine,” The man sounds as if he is reading off of a teleprompter, “Thousands of unfeeling soldiers that can’t be detected on thermal scanners. Imagine the power that could offer our country.”

“Jesus christ,” Michael lets out a disbelieving snort.

“Classic humans,” Geoff nods, “Tampering with shit they can’t even begin to understand, you never fail to amaze me with your stupidity.”

“They want to make thousands of . . . _you_?” Jeremy can’t find the right words to respond.

“In theory, yes.” The man nods, “I am the first of my line. The first _working_ prototype, they wish to replicate their success with me while utilizing the failures that caused your decay.”

“What’ll they want from me?”

“You?” The man cocks his head, “Well I imagine they’d rip your brain apart to get to the defective parts.”

Jeremy backs away from the man, hands dug into his pockets to disguise the shaking. He takes a deep breath and fights the urge to run back up the stairs.

“Shit,” Ryan finally steps forward. “I think we need to go . . . not be here.” He grabs Jeremy’s shoulder and leads him up the stairs. The smaller man doesn’t fight back and simply follows Ryan up into his room.

Before he knows what’s happening, everything feels like it's closing in on him. His chest burns despite the uselessness of his lungs and he wants to scream. Jeremy’s hands come up to cover his face, cutting the rest of the world off while he stifles the noises he knows are coming, whether they’re sobs or screams he can’t tell.

His skin crawls where his shirt touches it, making him writhe on the floor as he attempts to get away from the contact. A firm grasp on his shoulders makes him pause, the warmth giving him a moment of clarity in the whirlwind that is his mind.

“Jer, come on. Breathe.” Ryan’s voice vibrates against his chest, “In and out, breathe with me sweetheart.”

The unnecessary breaths give him a rhythm to latch onto. The itch that makes him want to claw off his skin calms slightly as he straightens enough to latch onto Ryan. The witch doesn’t protest and pulls Jeremy close to his chest. He almost feels like a child as his tears finally slip past his eyes.

“There you go,” Ryan rubs soft circles into his back, “Let it out. We can talk tomorrow. Just let everything out, you’re safe here.”

Jeremy just sobs again.


	9. Chapter 9

“The fuck are we gonna do, blow it up?” Gavin runs his hands through his hair roughly.

“I mean, that’s an option,” Michael shrugs.

“We don’t even know where it is,” Jack adds. “And really, there’s only six of us.”

“Eight if you count Treyco and Matt.” Geoff shakes his head,

“I wouldn’t count on them, you know Matt hates fighting. And Trevor hates people.”

“So,” Jack spreads his hands on the table, “ _If_ we get enough people, you all think it would be reasonable to attack this lab?”

Michael and Gavin do a double take, “What, and you don’t?” Jack laughs and shakes his head with a grin,   
“Oh no, I agree. I just wanna know how many people to find.”

The poltergeist chuckles incredulously, count on Jack to protect his boys. His werewolf instincts are especially strong when a pack ‘member’ was injured. Though none of them were technically _in_ the pack, they were bonded to Gavin who has the same protective sense as Jack. Things as simple as paper cuts brought both of them rushing into the room.

“We should hurry,” Gavin says, “They’ll probably have more people on the way. And I doubt they’ll mind shooting us.”

“So,” Michael mulls over their limited options, “We’ll need to find out _where_ the lab is before we do anything. Then we need to find a shit ton of people that are okay with breaking and entering. Easy enough.”

“Why don’t we split up?” Geoff suggests, “Some of us keep an eye on this fuck, and the rest of you go find allies.”

Michael glances up the stairs to where Jeremy and Ryan had been since yesterday, presumably not coming down anytime soon. They’d have to do this without them.

“I know someone who can help you get info out of fucking Beanpole down there,” He says, “Though Trevor might be able to help too.”

“We’ll have to keep an eye on the house as well,” Gavin adds, shaking his head, “They found us so easily this time, the have to know exactly where we are. And Rye’s wards didn’t seem to do shit.”

Geoff nods, hands clasped on the table. The others wait on a verdict on their next move. Geoff, despite his cracking voice and general childishness, is their go-to when it comes to big decisions. Surviving long enough to turn two thousand must have imparted some wisdom onto him, or dumb luck. Either way, they trust him.

“Michael, call your friend. Jack and I’ll get ahold of Trevor and we can take care of the fuck in the basement,” The demon shifts in his chair to face Gavin, “You can go talk to some friends of ours. Michael, go with him, they like him.”

“Alright!” Gavin shoots up out of his chair, clearly excited to have something to do. “Come on boi!” He grabs Michael by the arm and drags him out to the truck.

As the vampire attempts to swing the truck door open Michael grabs the back of his shirt, shaking his head. “Nope, you can’t drive, remember?”

“Aw come on, I could try!” Gavin whines, “I don’t wanna walk, please boi?” He shoots Michael a poor attempt at puppy dog eyes and the poltergeist laughs.

“Come on Gav, we’re walking.” He sets off towards the main town, glancing over his shoulder with a grin. “It’ll give me time to call Miles.”

* * *

 

The first thing that greets Michael when he knocks on the door to Bruce’s apartment is what looks - quite literally - like death. Long black robe, scythe and everything. Gavin squeaks and ducks behind Michael, who laughs at the taller man but still takes an unsure step back.

But before anything genuinely frightening can happen, another man’s voice comes from inside the apartment. “Larr? The fuck are you doing? Leave them alone, I literally _just_ told you they were coming.”

‘Larr’ slumps and lets out a heavy sigh, his heavy black robe melting into a t-shirt and jeans. “Sorry.”

Michael’s jaw drops, behind him Gavin gives a nervous laugh. The other man pushes Larr out of the way and holds out a hand for Michael to shake. “Sorry about him, I know you two are probably in a rush.” The man’s voice is soft and annoyed. “Come on in Michael, and Gavin.”

Before either men can say anything, Larr pulls them inside the apartment and closes the door behind them. The other man smiles tiredly and gestures for them to sit on the surprisingly large couch.

“So,” Michael toys with his fingers, “How’d you know who we were?”

“Oh!” He slaps his palm against his forehead, “Sorry, I didn’t tell you who I was did I? My name is Adam, I’m a seer.” He shrugs, “I get a little ahead of myself sometime.”

Larr comes back into view and laughs loudly, throwing an arm around Adam’s shoulder. “Really Adam? You forgot to tell them your name?” He tsks, “Inconsiderate.”

“Shut up,” Adam shakes Larr’s arm off and starts walking away, “I’m going to go tell Bruce you’re here.”

That leaves Michael and Gavin alone in the living room with Larr, who just stares at them as he rests against the counter. He looks over Gavin before turning to Michael and snorting.

“You don’t have to pretend you’re still alive with me,” He says.

“How the fuck did you know that?” Michael crosses his arms defensively. His body is as corporeal as he can possibly make it, which is normally impossible to distinguish from actual flesh and blood unless you relied on smell, which he lacks. How had Larr figured it out?

Instead of giving an actual answer, Larr’s clothes shift back into the black robe from earlier. He brandishes his scythe and shifts back, raising an eyebrow at the pair, waiting for the revelation. Gavin figures it out apparently as he gasps loudly and grabs Michael’s arm tightly.

“He’s the grim reaper!” The vampire blurts, bouncing in his seat. The apparent reaper chuckles and does a little bow,

“Well, I’m not the original. But yeah, Lawrence the Reaper, at your service. Though this-” He manifests the scythe again, ‘-is mostly for decoration.”

That makes sense, a literal _reaper of souls_ would be able to tell the difference between the living and the dead. Michael makes a mental note to ask him some questions when this whole lab thing had blown over.

Lawrence settles on one of the stools in the kitchen, waiting for Adam and Bruce.

Michael glances around the room nervously, he’s never actually met Bruce before. Geoff talks about him every once and awhile when they talked about the old world, but there was never a whole lot of information. All the ghost knows is that Bruce is a banshee, a type of spirit that warns people of their incoming death. And even that is a little worrisome.

Apparently the banshee had picked up some strays during his time out of Geoff’s radar, if Adam and Lawrence are any indication.

Speaking of, Lawrence must have gotten bored as he walks off the way Adam had went earlier. Gavin turns to him and raises his eyebrows, looking equal parts excited and concerned.

“Calm down,” Michael mutters, “Geoff trusts this guy so he’s probably alright.”

“I think I'm pretty great,” A new voice makes the vampire jump. Adam emerges from another room with who has to be Bruce. He grins at Michael and sits down across from them.

Adam plops down on the couch next to Bruce and pulls his legs up to his chest, glancing between the three.

“So,” Michael sits forward, “We need your help.”

“Oh I know,” Bruce gestures to Adam, “He already told us. We'd be happy to help you, Geoff's always been there for me when I needed him. I think it's only fair to return the favor.”

Gavin cocks his head, “How much does he know?” Nodding to Adam, who still has his knees pulled up to his chin.

“I know enough,” Adam murmurs. When Michael actually looks at him, the seer doesn’t look healthy. Dark bags sit under his eyes and his eyes themselves are incredibly tired, looking like they’re held open with only the force of his will. Though being a seer, Adam must deal with a lot of shit.

Bruce pats the smaller man’s shoulder and nods, “He had a vision earlier yesterday. Wouldn’t tell us much about it, just that we needed to expect visitors.”

Michael nods and decides to drop the topic. “So, we can count on you to help us? You’d be putting yourself in danger.”

“Yeah,” Bruce scoffs, “We’re in, don’t worry. Lawrence needs to go do something before he ends up killing one of us.”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Adam says quietly, shaking his head sluggishly. Almost like he'd been summoned, Lawrence rounds the corner and scoops Adam up into his arms with little effort.

“Alright,” The reaper grins at them, “Adam is going to take a nap, and you two should probably get this figured out before you leave.” He stares at Michael pointedly, cradling Adam as he walks away.

Instead of addressing what just happened, Bruce laughs and turns back to Michael and Gavin.

“Let's get our game plan figured out then.”

* * *

 

Miles is a force of nature. He comes skipping into the house nearly half an hour after Michael calls him, grinning with excitement as Geoff explains the situation. He doesn’t even bat an eye at the guy chained up in their basement. 

The man raises an eyebrow as Miles approaches him, looking thoroughly unimpressed by the tall man. 

“Who are you supposed to be?” The man scoffs, “The  _ nice  _ cop?”

“Nope,” Miles plops down next to him, “I’m Miles. And-” He leans closer to whisper in the man’s ear, “-I think you wanna tell me who sent you.”

To the untrained eye, Miles looks like any other human. But if you were to look closer you’d see the slight iridescent shimmer of his skin, the purple tinge to his light brown eyes, and the light patches of sparkling scales that decorate his body. When he speaks to the chained man, his voice rings with an undertone of a language so old even Geoff doesn’t know it.

Instead of the man’s usual snarky remarks, he stares at Miles and nods slowly. “My name is Kieran, I am a product of Monarch labs. Designation; P-001. First of my kind.”

Miles grins at him, patting his cheek. “Good boy-” Once again he leans in, “-What else can you tell me?”

“You are all in danger.” This time when Kieran says it, the words lack all pride or condescension. He almost sounds. . .sad. “I have failed, the lab will send soldiers after me. They will kill you and take the prototype. Then they will rip him apart, and likely me too. I am a failure.”

“Oh sweetheart,” Miles threads his hands into Kieran’s hair, “What do you want?”

“To capture the prototype.” He answers immediately, like it had been drilled into his head. 

Miles shakes his head, “No. What do  _ you  _ want?” Kieran frowns, unsure.

“I-I think I want to go home, I don’t want to be an experiment.”

It's so cliche, but Miles smiles and nods. “I understand. If you help us, I could give you a normal life.”

“Really?” Kieran looks up at him with all the innocence of a child and the siren nods.

“All I need to know is where the lab is, then I can help you.”

“Alright.”

* * *

 

“Got everything you need,” Miles announces as he comes back up the stairs. Trailing behind him is the man, whose head hangs low to avoid eye contact with either of the four men sitting at the kitchen table.

Geoff is instantly out of his seat, tail swishing irritably. “The fuck is he doing out of those chains?”

The siren rolls his eyes, “Calm down, Ramsey. He’s fine, aren’t you Kieran?” The man nods and meets Geoff’s eyes shyly. 

“I understand your anger, but I do not wish to harm you. I have promised to do whatever I can to help you and the prototype,” He pauses, “His name is Jeremy, is it not?”

Geoff nods, “I still don’t trust you. But what the hell? We’re already fucked as it is, why not take in a defect from the people we want to get rid of?”

Miles laughs and puts a hand on Kieran’s shoulder, “He’s going to stay with me, I promised him a chance to be normal. When you need us, just call. There’ll be a document coming your way with everything you need to know.”

“Alright,” Jack gives a resigned sigh, “Thanks for the help Miles.”

“No problem!” Miles throws over his shoulder as he and Kieran leave.

Yeah, Miles is a force of nature.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a bit short, I'm havin a bit of writer's block. But don't worry, this will finish soon, I promise not to abandon this. Hope you liked it! I had to add Adam and Lawrence in here cause I love them. Also, a little clarification. Miles' powers are just like most other iterations, he can influence people by talking and singing. But in this instance, he used his power to get at Kieran's actual personality, not what had been basically programmed into him. So yeah, Siren!Miles is my son. He's pretty great. And I couldn't resist the Monarch joke sorry >-<


	10. Chapter 10

It takes nearly a week for Jeremy to recapture his sanity. For that week he mostly stayed in his room, latched onto Ryan for support. Jack brought up meals and Trevor occasionally came by to check on him.

The morning he actually spoke, Gavin nearly fell off the bed in shock. He nearly tackled Jeremy onto the bed, giggling madly. The rest of the house gathered in Jeremy’s room to talk, but that quickly devolved into cuddling on the far to small bed.

By the time he had been brought up to speed on everything the plan to get rid of Monarch labs was already underway.

* * *

 

“Wait,” Jeremy waves his hands to calm his companions, “So Miles basically stole our hostage?”

Jack laughs and nods sheepishly, “Miles is a force all on his own. I doubt we could have stopped him if we wanted to, we’ve learned that it's just easier to let him do what he wants.”

Across the table, Geoff snorts. “He’s is special, Miles once convinced a demon _not_ to take his soul. He changed that dude’s whole internal programming.”

The undead man frowns, sipping at his coffee. “So why’d he take the guy anyway?”

“Dunno, he said something about promising him a normal life.”

Jeremy nods silently, staring down at his pale arms. “I understand that.”

Picking up on his discomfort, Gavin pats his back and grins at him. “But now we get to have fun!” Jeremy raises an eyebrow. “You get to help us recruit more of Trevor’s friends!”

Beside him Geoff groans, “That’s _today?_ Holy fuck.”

“Hey!” Michael crosses his arms, glaring at Geoff.

“Oh come on Michael,” The demon sighs, “I love Lindsay. But she’s kinda. . .”

“Fucking crazy?” Gavin finishes with a grin, ducking the spoon Michael sends flying his way. “Don’t worry Lil’J, she’s great.”

Jeremy just nods, having learned a long time ago that it was better to just not ask questions. After cleaning up the table Geoff claps loudly, making them all jump.

“Alright children! Field trip time, get in the truck!”

“Are we even gonna fit?” Michael asks skeptically.

“Let's find out boi!” Gavin yells as he drags Michael out of the house. Jeremy and Jack follow after them, exchanging an exasperated look as Jack locks the door behind them.

They don’t fit in the fucking truck. Geoff and Jack sit in the front seat and Gavin claims the backseat with Ryan, while Michael and Jeremy end up in the back of the truck braving the wind. Both not being able to feel the cold wind, Michael due to his lack of physical body, and Jeremy because of his inability to feel temperature.

“Wait, so where are we going?” Jeremy asks, hoping Michael can hear him over the wind.

“Right now we’re on our way to a forest,” The ghost points to the horizon, a magnificent forest stretching as far as he can see. “The we’ll have to find a portal, and visit Treyco’s home town, and Lindsay. ”

“Wait,” Jeremy’s head spins, “We’re going through a portal?”

“Yep,” Michael gives a soft laugh, but it sounds forced. “It’s not too bad, makes your head all spinny.”

The undead man shakes his head, “What the fuck is my life?” He mutters, making Michael laugh again, real this time.

“I’ll try again. We’re going to go through a portal in a forest so we can talk to faeries.” He snorts and shrugs, “That didn’t really make anymore sense, did it?”

Jeremy chuckles and shakes his head, “Nope.”

“Don’t worry,” Michael claps him on the back, “It’ll make sense when we get there.”

* * *

 

Apparently ‘there’ is a huge oak tree covered in moss and carved with what looks like letters. Ryan runs his hand along the tree trunk, tracing a huge circle. He smiles and turns to Geoff, “This is it.”

“Alright!” Geoff claps his hands, reminding Jeremy of a kindergarten teacher. “Everyone know the rules? If we see Jon, what do we do?”  
“Oh!” Gavin flails his arms, “Tell him you’re not with us.”

“Good!” The demon exclaims, “We all good?”

Ryan nods, fingers dancing across the tree bark, leaving a trail of glowing dots behind them. The tree crackles and warps in a way that defies all nature, opening a hole about the size of the truck.

With the others distracted Jeremy turns to Jack. “Why isn’t Geoff allowed in there?”

“Long story,” Jack replies with a shrug, “Short version though; he pissed off both the Seelie and Unseelie kings. We had a choice between selling his magic to the king, or just never coming back, Geoff took the easier option. His handler was _so_ mad about that.”

“Handler?”

“I’ll explain it later,” Jack says, dragging Jeremy towards the portal. “For now, we gotta go.”

Going through the portal feels a lot like being forced through a thick layer of jello, not that Jeremy really knows what that feels like. He stumbles as the other side of the portal materializes under his feet.

Ryan catches him and grins, “Welcome to the Enchanted Forest.”

“Wait, really?” Jeremy raises a skeptic eyebrow as he rights himself, glancing around.

“Nah,” The witch chuckles, “Human’s can’t pronounce the proper name for the Seelie forest, so we just call it the enchanted forest.”

Jeremy nods in acknowledgement, distracted by the forest around him. On their side of the portal the majority of the trees had been dead and decaying, with the exception of the portal tree. Here though, the trees spiral high above them, so high in some places that Jeremy can’t even see the leaves.

Even the grass looks healthier in the forest, thick and lush where it had been brown and malnourished. A stream splits around the tree, framing it in bright, mesmerising blue. Patches of flowers glow with an ethereal light, much like the portal. It really does look like something out of a disney movie.

“Holy shit,” Jeremy murmurs, making the others laugh fondly.

“Yeah,” Gavin breathes, “It’s amazing isn’t it?”

“Trevor was _born_ here?”

“Kinda,” Ryan makes a ‘so-so’ gesture, “He’s Unseelie, that’s another part of the forest.”

“Oh, where are we going?” Jeremy manages to collect his thoughts, “Seelie or Unseelie?”

“Seelie, for now.” Michael says, “Lindsay is probably here somewhere, she knew we were coming.” The ghost moves closer to Jeremy while the others start walking.

Jeremy turns to look at Michael and nearly gasps, he looks _alive_ . Not his usual washed out, blue tinted body, but a living _pink_ one. The freckles that Jeremy had only ever been able to pick out when a few inches away are suddenly visible from five feet away. He’s breathtaking, like seeing in color for the first time. The light brown of his hair and the light that glows in his brown eyes, all so _alive_.

He nearly forgets what they’re here for, too caught up in committing every part of this Michael to memory. The ghost catches onto his stare and gives Jeremy an uncharacteristically shy smile, “Weird isn’t it? I hate it here.”

“You’re beautiful,” Jeremy breathes, again glad for the fact that he can’t blush. Despite that he feels his cheeks heat up for the first time since this whole thing happens. His hand comes up to touch his cheeks, still feeling the warmth from his skin. He’s _alive_.

“I _was_ beautiful,” Michael corrects softly, moving a hand up to cup his newly flushed cheek. “I’m just an imitation now, cold and dark.” He fists his other hand in the material of his shirt, arm shaking with the force of his grip.

Unsure of himself, Jeremy reaches out to take the fist into his hand, sliding his fingers into Michael’s grip gently. The taller man doesn’t protest, but lowers his head to avoid Jeremy’s gaze. Patiently, Jeremy lifts Michael’s head enough to look him in the eyes.

“In case you haven’t noticed,” He says gently, “I’m not exactly bursting with life either. Am I dark too?”

“No!” Michael blurts, “No, you’re so _bright_ . But I’m _not._ You, Gavin,Ryan, Geoff, and Jack, you’re all so bright. I don’t deserve you guys.”

Jeremy shakes his head violently, pulling Michael closer. “That’s where you’re wrong, you deserve _everything_. I promise, believe me this time?” Michael nods shakily and offers a weak smile.

“Yeah.”

“Good,” Jeremy smiles, pressing a soft kiss to Michael’s lips, “Never forget this. We can talk more when we get home, if you still want to that is.”

Michael doesn’t say anything but squeezes Jeremy’s hand and that’s all the answer Jeremy needs. The smaller man grins and pulls him after the others.

The rest of the walk through the forest, Michael doesn’t let go of his hand. Jeremy catches the sympathetic looks Gavin and Ryan shoot at the ghost, this has happened before. It hurts to think about Michael like this, quiet and full of self-doubt. Jeremy makes a silent promise to keep him smiling for as long as he exists.

* * *

 

It feels like forever before someone finally shows up. A small red headed faery, a little taller than Jeremy himself, hovering a few feet above them. Jeremy is just about to point it out to Michael when a cold blast of water hits the entire group in the face.

Instantly Geoff growls and looks up, obviously knowing the faery was there. His fire is out, head smoking subtly. “Lindsay, what the fuck?!”

The faery giggles and does a small backflip. “Sorry Geoff, I just _had_ to! The opportunity was perfect!” She exclaims, grinning widely at the group. “So, whatcha doin’ in my neck of the woods?” She wiggles her eyebrows at the pun and giggles again.

“You forgot?!” Geoff exclaims, voice cracking so bad Jeremy has to stifle a laugh. “We need to talk to Trevor about helping us!”

“Oh! Yeah I remember that!” Lindsay nods, coming down to stand at their level. “I’m not sure how useful I can be, the Seelie are visiting and Trev’s in meetings all day.”

“Shit,” Geoff’s tail ignites again, swishing nervously, “So he’s with Jon?”

“Yep, sorry Geoff.” Lindsay sighs, she studies the demon for a moment and rolls her eyes. “What are you planning?”

“Do you think you could trick Jon into leaving? Just long enough that Trevor can get out.”

“I can try,” Lindsay shrugs, “But I can’t promise anything.”

Geoff nods, motioning for the faery to lean in. He whispers what has to be a very elaborate plan for how long it takes. All the while Jack smiles at him and rolls his eyes.

“Confused?” Gavin leans over, stage whispering to make Michael laugh. It works.

“A little bit,” Jeremy admits.

“Alright,” Michael jumps in, “It’s all pretty simple. Lindsay is an Unseelie, she’s pretty high up in the rankings so she’s allowed to talk to Jon and Trevor.” Jeremy nods, still vaguely confused about who Jon is. “Trevor is an Unseelie as well, but he’s basically the prince, the second son of the king and all. Jon is the Seelie prince, he only visits like once every few hundred years so its kinda a big deal. Trev doesn’t really care about the whole ‘Geoff being banned’ thing, but we don’t know about Jon, he’s kinda weird about rules.”  
Jeremy nods slowly, “Would you be mad if I said I have no clue what you just said?”

“Nah,” Michael laugh, “I’m still confused about it and I’ve known them for years.” Years? How old is Michael? Jeremy doesn’t ask right now, making a note to ask when they get back home.

Finally Geoff and Lindsay seem happy with their plan and turn to tell the rest of the group. The faery gestures for Geoff to explain, standing back with a bemused smile on her lips.

“So, we’re gonna trick the Seelie prince and then we’re gonna ask Trevor for help while Jon is distracted. Sound good?”

Instead of protesting, Jack just rolls his eyes and nods. “Just tell us what we have to do Geoff."

* * *

 

Seelie buildings defy the logic of _everything_ . The small house that Lindsay takes them to hovers at least five feet above the ground, a set of similarly suspended stones serving as stairs. It's round and seems to be made of pure crystal. He manages to resist gaping at the pure _magic_ of the city until they get inside.

Beside him Ryan takes a deep breath and laughs. Jeremy turns to stare at him, confused by the sudden outburst. He's surprised to see the pale glow that surrounds the witch, a soft iridescent halo that somehow makes him even more beautiful. Jeremy comes to the conclusion that the faery realm makes everyone even fucking _hotter._

Ryan flexes his fingers and turns to Jeremy, “Quick, what kind of magic tricks do you like?”

“I-I don’t-” Jeremy stutters.

“Never mind!” Ryan grins, “Watch this.”

For a moment the hyper witch is still, then suddenly he's folding in on himself. Ryan's body folds like cheap paper and in his place sits an enormous dirty blind cat. The cat purrs loudly and rubs up against Jeremy, bouncing around happily and nearly knocking Geoff over in the process.

Jeremy laughs incredulously, unsure how to react to Ryan becoming a frigging _cat_ right in front of his eyes. Even Michael manages a laugh, a real, full laugh this time. That spurs Gavin into a giggle fit and suddenly all the stress of the last week melts away.

At this moment it's just Jeremy, his witch, vampire, demon, werewolf, and ghost having a moment to themselves.

A few minutes go by and Ryan reverts to his original form, splayed out on the floor panting heavily but grinning wildly. The others catch their breath and join the witch on the floor.

“God I love it here,” Ryan gasps out, managing to sit up. “Everything is so. . .”

“Magical?” Jack finishes with a grin.

“Yeah, it's amazing.” Gavin sighs, “I wish we could stay here.” Jeremy feels Michael search out his hand, squeezing it for support. The smaller man squeezes back and gives him a reassuring smile.

They sit in comfortable silence until the door creaks open. Lindsay comes in wringing her hands, “Geoff please don't be mad.”

“Why?” The demon shoots to his feet, positioning himself between the faery and his boys. “Lindsay what did you do?”

“I can't say nothing,” She mutters. Instead of a straightforward answer, the door swings open and two men walk in.

Jeremy recognizes Trevor, who, although he's wearing fancy clothes, looks the same as when they'd sat in his greenhouse. The other man though, Jeremy doesn't know him. He wears the same kind of clothes as Trevor, just in a lighter color palette, and exudes the same aura of power.

Apparently Geoff knows him though, as the demon groans and his tail nearly sets fire to the floor as it flares.

“Hello, Geoffrey.” The man says with a flourishing bow, “How are you?”

“Don't give me that shit, Risinger. Where are your guards? You gonna drag my ass to the chopping block?”

The man looks genuinely confused, cocking his head to the side. “I don't plan on it, not yet anyway.” Trevor sighs and puts a hand on the man's shoulder, making him jump slightly.

“What Jon is trying to say is that he doesn't care about your banishment. We're both here to help.”

“It's true,” Jon confirms, “I actually thought your ‘joke’ was quite entertaining.”

“Oh,” Geoff is speechless, making the others chuckle, “Well shit.”

Jon joins them on the floor, princely aura seeming to melt away. “Now, we must be quick about this, my guards will notice our absence soon enough.” He gives Geoff a grin, “You need Fae to help you in the human world as I understand, yes?”

“Anyone you can spare,” Jack agrees.

“Good,” Jon smiles, “I have many. . .delinquents that could use some time away from the castle. I trust Prince-”

Trevor cuts him off, “Just call me Trevor. I don’t use that name outside of the castle.” He looks upset and Jon picks up on that, putting a soft hand on his shoulder.

“Alright, I’m sorry Trevor.” Jon’s hand remains on Trevor’s shoulder as he talk, “Can I ask you to bring the others to the portal?”

“Of course,” Trevor nods, seeming to right himself.

They finalize a few details and it doesn’t take long before there’s a knock at the door. Jon answers it, ushering everyone other than Trevor and Lindsay into the back room and out of sight.

“My prince!” The voice all but booms through the house, “We thought something had happened to you, where did you go?”

“Ah,” Jon’s voice is formal, void of all the emotion he had previously. “I am sorry, we got distracted. Have we missed anything important?”

“No, of course not.” The guard answers, “We simply worried about leaving you alone with _him_.” Even without looking Jeremy knows the tone of voice is directed at Trevor, he can feel the sneer in the guard’s voice. It makes Jeremy want to leave cover right then and there so he can punch the Fae right in the nose.

“My apologies,” Trevor doesn’t miss a beat, answering with a carefully measured voice lacking all emotions. “We must return to the castle, lead the way _Seelie_.” The single word drips with sarcasm.

And just like that, they’re gone. Leaving Lindsay in the doorway, rubbing the bridge of her nose with irritation. She turns to Geoff and sighs heavily, “We should go.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for making it this far into my story! Little update, this is probably gonna be longer than 14 chapters, I'm not gonna change the listing until I'm sure how long this will be but expect at least 15 or 16. So, if you have any questions or thing you wanna talk about come yell at me on tumblr (Same username), or drop me a comment!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know I'd like to say I was busy with school but I fell asleep on my laptop and deleted the whole fucking chapter so here's the brand new-rewritten version cause I'm a fucking idiot.

Michael all but drags Jeremy up into his room, hand tight around the undead man’s wrist as he closes the door without a single word. But that’s okay because Jeremy knows exactly what's wrong. So he doesn’t say anything either and simply pulls Michael close to his chest and lets the ghost clench his hands in Jeremy’s shirt.

Finally Michael decides to talk, despite the fact that his face is buried in the smaller man’s shirt.   
“I’m sorry,” He mutters bitterly, “You don’t need to deal with my issues.”

“Why’s that?” Jeremy asks gently, “I’ve stuck with you haven’t I? What you’re going through isn’t something that you should keep bottled up, and I’m here to listen. We all are, all you’ve gotta do is let us in.”

“I don’t even know who I _am,_ ” Michael clenches his hands into fists. “Ever since I woke up in this house I’ve only know my own name.”

“Easy,” The smaller man smiles, “You’re Michael, our temperamental ghost with an unhealthy habit of screaming.”

“No,” Michael sighs shakily, “I mean _before_. Before I died, I don’t know anything about what I was like when I was alive.” He’s on the verge of crying again, fingers clenched so tight Jeremy worries he’ll hurt himself.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Jeremy frowns, sliding his hand into Michael’s gently to relieve the pressure. He ducks his head to press a soft kiss to the ghost’s forehead. “Why does that matter?”

“Because!” Michael cries, “I’m stuck here for a reason and I don’t know the fucking reason! I just  want to know who I am!” He buries his face in Jeremy’s chest, shoulders shaking with the force of his sobs.

Jeremy realizes that nothing he says will help this, Michael needs to let everything go. To just _cry_ for a little while. And he’s more than happy to hold the taller man to his chest and rub soothing circles into the back of his hand until the tears subside.

What feels like half an hour goes by and Michael takes a shuddering breath, raising his head to meet Jeremy’s eyes. “Do you really think it doesn’t matter?” His voice is soft, timid even.

“I do,” The smaller man gives a gentle smile, “To me, and the others, this is who we have always known. You are _our_ Michael, and we love _you._ Besides, I barely know who _I_ am."

“You love me?” Michael blinks up at him, surprise evident in his tone but also a tinge of excitement. “That’s . . . the first time you’ve ever said that to me.”

“Really?” Jeremy’s eyebrows shoot up, “Well I mean it.” He ducks down to press a kiss to Michael’s lips, feeling the ghost grin against him. “I love you.”

Michael giggles and returns the kiss lazily, “Love you too, Jer.”

* * *

 

Breakfast is a fairly calm affair. Jack and Ryan make pancakes while Gavin flits around the kitchen ‘helping.’ Geoff is half asleep on the table, only roused by the promise of food. And Michael floats upside down a few feet above the table, toying with Jeremy’s short hair.

Then suddenly the door flies open and the door frame catches fire. The same kind of fire that wreaths Geoff’s tail, except purple. A tall is woman comes storming in, body completely covered in the flames.

“Geoffrey _fucking_ Ramsey!” She all but screams and Jeremy is glad they don’t have any close neighbours.

Geoff, apparently unfazed by the sudden intrusion, blinks slowly and gives her a sleepy smile. “Oh, hey Griffon. How are you?”

“Don’t you _‘how are you’_ me!” She growls, “Why the _fuck_ were you in the Forest?”

“What? How the fuck do you already know about that?” He asks, not bothering to deny it. “Who squealed?”

“Fae can’t lie,” Griffon glares at Geoff, “I just fucking _asked_ Lindsay.”

“Ah,” Geoff nods. “So, you gonna kill me?”

Seeming to calm down, Griffon shakes her head and sighs. “No. But you’re on your last warning Geoff, I’m having trouble convincing them that you’re even worth it. Just, stop being an idiot please?”

“I’ll do my best,” Geoff shrugs, “Can’t promise shit though.”

“I know,” Griffon sighs. She shakes her head and turns to Jack and Ryan in the kitchen who, to their credit, look surprisingly relaxed and even happy.

“Mornin’ Griff,” Jack says, “You staying for breakfast.”

“I don’t wanna impose,” The other demon smiles, “But I mean, if you got extra. . .” She trails off as Ryan hands her a plate. Jeremy’s head spins with the sudden change of demeanor, shooting Michael a confused look. The ghost shrugs and gives him a grin.

“Sit down,” The witch grins, “Geoff needs his ass kicked every once and awhile. And,” He gestures to Jeremy, “We’ve made a new friend.”

The undead man gives an awkward wave, a forkful of pancakes halfway to his mouth. Despite Griffon’s outwardly terrifying appearance she gives him a sunny smile and sets her plate down next to his. From how she spoke to Geoff, and even Jack and Ryan, Jeremy thinks this must be Geoff’s demonic handler. Or at the very least a very good friend.

“So, how’d you end up with these idiots?” She asks through a mouth full of pancakes.

“It’s a long story,” Jeremy mumbles, “But they kinda saved my ass.” Griffon laughs and Jeremy sees an absurd amount of Geoff in her, the two must have known each other for a long time. As if hearing his thoughts the demon nods thoughtfully.

“We’ve known each other for-” She slaps Geoff’s arm, “-Geoff, how long have I known you?”

“Since I became a demon I think,” He muses, “So I’d say two thousand years?”

“That sounds about right,” Griffon gives Jeremy a grin, “Sorry, I shouldn’t go diving into people’s heads without permission.”

“You were in my head?” Jeremy’s eyes widen, what had she seen? “Can you. . .not do that please?” He hopes the panic in his head doesn’t slip into his voice.

Griffon frowns, looking vaguely concerned. “Of course, I’m sorry sweetheart. May I ask why?”

Jeremy shakes his head, fingers tangling in his sweater to combat the sudden onslaught of nausea. Instantly Gavin is at his side, cold hands snapping the smaller man back into reality.

“He’s had. . .experiences with people in his head,” The vampire explains, “It's a bit of a sore spot.”

The other demon drops her fork and gasps, “Oh! I’m so sorry!” She gives him a genuine smile that Jeremy can’t help returning.

“It’s alright,” He says, “You didn’t know.”

“Oh you’re sweet!” Griffon laughs, turning to Geoff. “You better treat him right, Ramsey. Or I’ll kick your ass myself.”

The look of almost terror on Geoff’s face is so out of place that Jeremy can’t help but laugh. He can see why Geoff likes her, and why he seems vaguely scared of her. The other demon is sweet and exudes a feeling of comfort, a lot like what Jeremy imagines a mother to feel like.

She stays all night, fitting into their familial dynamic easily. Most of their conversations end up being Gavin asking ridiculous rhetorical questions and Michael groaning as the questions escalate in their absurdity. The return of their relaxed, domestic feeling puts Jeremy as ease and he resigns himself to lean on Geoff’s unnaturally warm shoulder, dozing on and off as the others talk. Tomorrow is going to be hectic.

* * *

 

Seeing the amount of people that came to assist in the demise of Monarch labs is almost overwhelming. Geoff calls everyone to the forest a few miles away from the house, where they had entered the enchanted forest earlier in the week.

Or course Matt and Griffon are there, leaning against a tree and talking with Jack. Four  people that Jeremy has yet to meet himself chase Gavin around, introduced as James, Elyse, Bruce, and Lawrence by Michael. Lawrence's boyfriend Adam stays back and chats quietly with Ryan and Kieran, all three attempting to open a portal to the lab.

As they talk, a portal opens on a completely different tree, yielding a small force of armoured Fae. To Jeremy’s surprise not only is Trevor leading the force, but Jon as well. The two princes are decked out in elaborate armor while Lindsay is simply floating above them, wreathed in fire much like Griffon had been yesterday.

Geoff perks up at the force of Fae, all armed with sharp weapons and the familiar glimmer of magic. He trots over to Trevor, dragging Jeremy with him. The Unseelie prince gives them a bright grin, one so unlike the pure annoyance and anger that had graced his face while in the Seelie town.

“Are we late?” He calls, fluttering forward to meet them, Jon hot on his heels.

“Of course not,” Geoff laughs, “To what do we owe the pleasure of _two_ Faery princes?”

“Jon managed to convince his father that an expedition to the human world would be beneficial to the Seelie kingdom, and brought me along as a show of good faith to the Unseelie.” Trevor explains, hand on Jon’s shoulder. “Of course he doesn’t know the _intention_ of our expedition, it is a simple exploration party.”

“But I thought Fae couldn’t lie?” Jeremy asks, remembering Griffon earlier.

“Oh we can’t,” Jon gives a wolfish grin, the most emotion he’d ever seen the Seelie demonstrate, “But _stretching_ the truth is totally fair game.”

Jeremy nods and takes the chance to examine Trevor's ornate armour from a closer vantage point. It looks as if it's made completely out of scales, and carved with runes and inscriptions the smaller man can't hope to understand. The surface seems to devour all sources of light, a stark contrast to Trevor's shimmering skin. Despite the obvious battle scars adorning the armor, it's still shiny and pristine like it had been polished only seconds ago. The Unseelie must have a spell that keeps armour perfectly polished.

Jon's armour on the other hand seems to emit an ethereal light, glowing despite the near absence of the sun. Its light is dampened by Trevor's armor, which devours the surprisingly bright aura it creates. Just like other other set of Fae armor the surface is perfect, but Jon's set seems to be modeled after leaves, the many pieces clicking together to create a perfect metal canopy that moves with the Seelie prince's movements.

A loud voice snaps Jeremy out of his contemplation. Another man runs over, grinning brightly at the princes and Geoff. He claps a hand down on the demon’s shoulder and doubles over to catch his breath

This man is obviously another Faery of some sort, his skin shimmers and patches of pearlescent scales spot his arms like freckles. His eyes are unnaturally perceptive, darting from person to person surprisingly fast without losing focus.

“So,” The man gives a shallow bow, “How have you been my prince?”

The question, surprisingly, is detected to Trevor, whose eyes widen as he grins excitedly.

“Miles!” He exclaims brightly, “I've been well, thought I'm a little offended you haven't visited me in a few hundred years.”

“I'm sorry Trev, but you know how the world is.” Miles shrugs, the same Miles that apparently stole Kieran from their basement mind you, and hangs on Geoff, “She don't stop for any Fae.”

“ _This_ is Miles?” Jon's eyebrows shoot up, “I always imagined. . .”

“More?” The other Fae shrugs, “What can I say? Trev is a hell of a storyteller.”

Before the trio can get to far off track Geoff clears his throat and shakes Miles off his shoulder. “Sorry to interrupt-”

“No you're not,” Miles whines.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Geoff ignores the taller man, “I'm sorry to interrupt this fond reunion but we've got a castle to storm.”

“Ah that's right,” Miles nods thoughtfully, “You know Adam saw-”

“-I know.” Geoff cuts him off, “But he's not always right.”

Miles just shrugs as they make their way over to the finally opened portal, thanks to Ryan and Kieran. As the first few people step through the portal an ungodly screech echoed through the forest, seeming to come from Bruce.

Everyone aside from Adam and Bruce freeze, terror evident in their eyes as Jeremy looks around, though Adam looks more tired, like he knew what was coming. He turns to Geoff to ask but the demon just shakes his head and puts a firm hand on his shoulder.

“We’ll be fine, Jer. Don't worry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psst, can you see the set up for another story in this verse?


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oops

The lab is cold and empty. The walls and floors are bright, surgical white, painful to look at for too long under the fluorescent lights. Everything feels so. . . familiar. Jeremy’s skin crawls and he rolls his shoulders to disperse the feeling. 

Geoff picks up on his discomfort and squeezes his shoulder lightly, “You good, Jer?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy takes a deep breath, “Yeah I’m good. Let's do this.” 

The portal had dropped them in an empty hallway void of all noise so they gather together and look to Geoff and Kieran for a plan. The tall man takes a quick look around before sighing,

“We’re on the top level, it's not actually a lab. The lab we need to visit is on the third floor so we need to find the elevator.” He grabs Miles hand, much like a child, and drags him down to left side of the hall. 

“Why’d they have an empty lab up here?” Jeremy asks as they weave through the halls, Kieran gives a soft huff. 

“Would you show civilians a lab full of surgeons and scientists cutting open random people’s heads and playing with their brains?” He raises an eyebrow,  “So they built this one, when they have to host the civilians they fill this one with monitors and technical stuff so it looks like the main lab, aside from the cut open heads of course.”

Jeremy looks through the many windows and tries to imagine the  _ actual  _ lab. Gurneys and people everywhere, needles and white clad doctors. He feels something bubble in his chest and internally sighs, this is really _ not _ the time for a panic attack. Not to mention Jeremy’s cried more in the last month or so than any other time in his life. 

But to his surprise, the feeling of everything closing in on him never comes. Instead the feeling that bubbled up settles in his heart and Jeremy feels his resolve hardening, skin warming to an almost human degree. It has to be magic, his heart doesn’t work anymore. And he’s right, Ryan puts a warm hand on his shoulder and grins.

“How you feeling?” The witch asks, obviously fishing for something. Jeremy smiles and puts a hand on his heart.

“Better. Though I feel like I’ve been blessed by some god,” All subtlety is lost as he winks up at Ryan. The witch blushes and nods sheepishly, 

“It’s a protection spell, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” Jeremy grins again, “How are  _ you _ doing?”

Ryan sighs, glancing around. “My magic grants me a certain amount of. . .awareness.And I’ve never felt so much  _ death _ in one place before. Something is  _ seriously _ wrong here, its. . . disconcerting.” 

The smaller man nods, unsure how to respond. This place is certainly wrong, so many people affected by the experiments carried out here. Jeremy is only one of the few that survived, and even then he is still dying. Kieran is lucky in their situation, he’s still living. But his original personality was wiped from his mind, taking an extremely powerful siren to return it to him. Whoever has the guts to authorize experiments such as these must be a truly fucked up individual.

* * *

 

The second floor is just as empty as the first, but just as uncomfortable and all too familiar. To his surprise Jeremy doesn't feel the choking panic he expected when coming back here, only excitement at finally coming face to face with whoever did this to him. 

The elevators are all located at different places on the floors, Kieran says it’s to keep the actual lab safe from attackers but Jeremy likes to think it's just for the drama. 

Adam looks even more tired as they descend, leaning on Lawrence for support as they walk. He jumps at every noise and his eyes dart around suspiciously. Jeremy approaches them slowly and gives Adam a concerned look,

“How are you holding up?”

“I'm okay,” The seer tries to right himself, but Lawrence holds him steady anyway. 

“He's not okay,” The reaper rolls his eyes, “I told him to stay home, but he just  _ had  _ to come. Stubborn ass.” He mutters the last bit under his breath, nudging Adam to show he's joking.

“I have to be here,” Adam murmurs, “I  _ saw _ it.”

That's right, Adam could see the  _ future _ . Had he seen who would die? Why didn't he tell everyone else so they could prevent it. 

As if reading his mind, Adam shakes his head. “I can't tell you, it would create a self-fulfilling prophesy. In trying to save them, you would actively start the events of them dying.” In response to his wide eyes the seer smiles, “I wasn't in your head, I just get that look a lot. My visions are not always accurate, I see a  _ possible _ future. It's not always the one that comes to pass.”

“Oh,” Is all Jeremy can think to say, eyes dropping awkwardly. “I'm sorry. Feel better?”

“Thanks,” Adam gives him a tired smiles and Lawrence nods at him for dropping the topic, it seems like a sore spot. 

Kieran stops them at an industrial size elevator. He glares at the keypad for a moment and sighs heavily, “They've taken my prints out of the system, I can't get us it.”

James steps up, he stops to inspect the keypad and holds his hand up to be scanned. To their collective surprise the pad gives an affirmative beep and the elevator doors open slowly. 

“How did you. . .” Kieran looks fascinated by James’ hands.

“Shapeshifter,” The blonde grins, “It's an acquired talent.”

Geoff sighs heavily, “I don't know if I should be worried or impressed.”

“Both,” Elyse chimes in, grinning proudly at the taller man. 

Without another word the group files into the huge elevator, they manage to squish in with a few of the Fae hovering above them. Lindsay takes the opportunity to mess with people's hair while they can't retaliate, she tries to grab a handful of Michael's curls to make into a mohawk but the ghost phases out of her grasp and rolls his eyes. 

Jeremy appreciates the reprieve from all the tension and fear. Though Michael remains silent and close at Jeremy's side, not willing to lose sight of him. 

The elevator opens to a completely dark loading bay, Jeremy takes a careful step into the bay and motions for the others to follow. Sensing movement, the lights in the bay flick on.

And the bay is surprisingly small, only just wide enough for three people to walk comfortably. It looks more like a tunnel than a loading bay. 

The air in the tunnel is cold, enough to make Trevor shiver. Matt nudges him and grins, making the prince roll his eyes. 

“I doesn't feel natural in here,” Jon observes, rubbing his arms as well. Looking to Kieran or Jeremy for an answer.

“It's basically a fridge,” Kieran answers, “It keeps the bodies slow and intact while they work.”

Jeremy presses his palm against the wall and instantly pulls it back, his fingers tingling with something that could have been pain. Something in the back of his head stirs and he glances around, the sounds of wheels clicking down the tunnel echoing in his ears. 

“I've been here,” He says, certainty in his voice for the first time since entering the lab. “I _know_ where we are.”

“Of course you do,” Kieran puts a hand on his shoulder, “This is where they would have taken you to be programmed.”

Programmed, such a clinical term for such a bloody process, at least as Jeremy remembers it. Flashes of everything come rushing in suddenly. The needles sliding into his skull, his brain lacking the pain but still acutely aware of the needle tip sliding into his skin. He remembers the doctors, all in white, detached from everything that happened no matter what happened.

Except one.

Jeremy remembers a warm hand on his chest. A soft voice, apologising every time he was taken into the white room. He remembers the stretch of nothing, where his heart didn’t beat and his skin cooled under the fridge-like conditions of the room. He remembers the clack of the wheels as he is taken back to his room, completely boneless. 

Then light, bright and fiery, just like the person who casted it. And Jeremy was back, blinking tiredly as the person smiles at him weakly. He remembers the person collapsing into his cold arms, eyes falling closed with a strange sense of finality. He remembers his heart dropping horribly.

He remembers staring down at the body in his arms, skin still glowing slightly. A white mist leaves the body and Jeremy watches it go with a bemused smile, pleased. He stares down at the constellations of freckles on the body’s rapidly cooling cheeks, taking them in with an urgency he doesn’t really understand. As though he  _ needs _ to remember them. 

A single thought is left in his mind as he lays the body on his bed,  _ get out _ . He only knows to run, to get far away from this place and find that mist again. So he does. 

Jeremy remembers everything. Then he’s back in the tunnel, staring at Michael, jaw dropped.

“You,” He breathes, not daring to believe that he had finally  _ found  _ him. 

Michael grins tiredly, “Me,” He agrees. All at once, the ghost’s form gets stronger. Skin stops blurring at the edges, eyes sharpening to the squint he remembers so well. And his cheeks,  _ oh _ his cheeks. The constellations brighten and shine with the fiery light Jeremy feels in his core. “You found me.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> IT FINALLY FUCKING CAME OUT! I'm so sorry this took so long, I wanted to get this out earlier but my writers block is a bitch.

Jeremy races forward, pulling Michael into a bruising hug. He buries his face in the taller man's neck. “I  found you,” He murmurs, voice heavy with disbelief.

“Yeah you did,” Michael says, rubbing soothing circles into Jeremy's back, “You did it J, you found me.”

They stay like that for a moment before Geoff clears his throat. “Sooo, what just happened?”

“I-” Jeremy glances at Michael for help, eyes wide with shock. 

“I got it J,” He smiles, turning back to Geoff. “We remembered,  everything . I worked here, as a nurse. I was Jeremy's nurse, and I think I was a witch, that's why I was able to move around freely after death.” He takes a deep breath to steel himself and Jeremy doesn't blame him. “I think they fucked something up and he died, they were gonna throw him out. So I brought him back, and I think it killed me. Then I started wandering, I was looking for my unfinished business and I finally found it.”

“That makes sense,” Ryan nods, “Necromancy is incredibly complicated and needs a lot of power.” 

“I think I felt bad,”  Michael frowns, “For what they did to him and maybe something else, I don't know.”

“That’s okay,” Jeremy pats his shoulder, “We’re both a little overwhelmed. How about we get back to the task at hand, and we can talk about this later?”

Michael nods and turns to Geoff, “I know where the main lab is, we can start an evacuation and take out the lab after everyone is gone. Not everyone here is a dick.”

Geoff seems to consider the idea and reluctantly nods. “Fine, you and Jeremy go find that switch. The rest of us’ll see if we can find something to bring this hell hole down.” 

“We’ll go with them,” Trevor offers, “I would like to learn more about this place and the people here.”

Instead of protesting Michael nods and grabs Jeremy's hand, “Follow me, and be quiet.”

\---

Michael's sudden knowledge of the lab is somewhat unnerving. All Jeremy can remember is the  feeling of being here, the discomfort and fear that filled his mind the entirety of his stay. 

He ducks around a corner and grins as they come up on a locked door with another key pad. He turns to Trevor, who rolls his eyes and lays a hand on the pad. It beeps for a moment and Jeremy gets worried as the door doesn't open.

Then suddenly it just  melts,  molten metal pooling around Trevor's feet. The faery steps over it gingerly as the doors open, advising Jon to do the same. 

Jeremy shoots a questioning look at Trevor, who grins and shrugs. “I have a dramatic flare, sue me.”

“It's a whole lot more than a  flare ,” Matt nudges him playfully, making the taller man roll his eyes. He pushes the werewolf through the door and smiles fondly,

“Hush, we're supposed to be serious.”

Jeremy chuckles and shakes his head at the bickering, the two reminding him of an old married couple, or Geoff and Jack for that matter. 

He turns his attention back to Michael and the room, which is full of computer screens and has a single desk in the center. A woman sits at the desk but she's already been knocked out, courtesy of Jon. The woman is dragged into one of the rooms corners and laid down so as to not get in their way.

Michael is already typing away at the computers, frowning slightly. Trevor pulls the Fae off to examine the unused computers and gestures for Jeremy to go talk to Michael. 

As he approaches Jeremy notes the faint frown twisting Michael's lips, something he's seen far too often in the last few days. He clears his throat to alert the ghost to his presence, “Anything?”

“The protocols are still the same,” Michael says, “But they still have me in the system-” He points to a file under the label ‘anomalies’ “-It has all my clearance, as well as personal history. I thought it would have been deleted to cover their tracks.”

The file features a picture of pre-death Michael with a surprisingly bright smile on his face, with the caption ‘Michael Jones, 20 y/o.’ Jeremy doesn't read any further though, not wanting to invade Michael’s privacy. 

He glances over at the ghost and gauges his reaction, Michael looks angry, but also confused. He taps at the console and sighs, “They wanted to know  how I brought you back, so they could do it themselves.” He skims over a part of the file and frowns even deeper, “They . . . dissected me, to find out where my magic came from. But they didn't find anything, I could have told them that. Assholes.” He mutters, shaking his head.

“Did they at least. . .” Jeremy trails off, unsure of how to ask the question. Thankfully Michael seems to understand and snorts.

“Bury me? Nope,” He pops the ‘p’ and points to the bottom of the file, to the line labeled ‘status’, “Says right here; ‘Incinerated.’ It's what they do with all the  evidence .”

“Jesus christ,” Jeremy breaths, eyes wide. “That's just . . .  fuck  dude.”

Michael seems to calm down and turns to the smaller man with a rueful grin, “Thank god we’re bringing this cluster fuck down, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy nods and rolls his shoulders, “Where's that evacuation protocol? Let's get this show on the road.”


	14. Chapter 14

The loudest alarm Geoff had ever hear in his long life startles him as they move slowly down a hall, looking for anything vital to the facility. Kieran’s head snaps up and he seems to revert to his original state before Miles got a crack at him, eyes losing emotion and posture stiff. He glances down at Geoff and the others, a sneer growing on his lips.

“I must take you to the staff,” He says, “They will be interested to know how you got in here.”

Miles’ reaction is instantaneous, he sighs and places his hands on either side of Kieran’s head. “Kieran, look at me.” Despite a look of confusion, the exceptionally tall man obeys. “Who are you?”

“I am a product of Monarch labs. Designation; P-00-”

“ _ No _ ,” Miles shakes his head, “ _ Who are you? _ ” 

“I-” He falters, frowning slightly. He slumps a bit and shakes his head, “I'm Kieran. I am. . .” He cocks his head and seems to see Miles for the first time, “I'm your friend.”

Miles gives a positive nod and pats Kieran’s  cheek, “Good boy, welcome back.”

“I am sorry for losing myself for a moment, it will not happen again.” Kieran apologises, shaking his head sluggishly.

Miles smiles and caresses the taller man's face, “All is forgiven my dear, let's get on with this. Where can we find the generators?” Kieran smiles shyly and motions for Geoff to follow him. 

The demon sighs, Jack putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “They’ll be fine, have a little faith in them.”

“Faith isn't my thing,” Geoff jokes, “But I know, they'll be fine.” He repeats the last bit as if to solidify it in his mind. 

To take his mind off of Jeremy and Michael, the demon turns to Bruce and his group. As well as Gavin, who is trading quips with James.  “How we doin’?”

“We're good,” Bruce answers, “But it's a little too cold for Elyse.” He gestures to the smaller blonde, who is hanging on to James for dear life. 

Geoff tests the air and is surprised to find it just below freezing by his internal thermometer. He whistles and rubs his hands along his arms, fire igniting in their wake. Elyse perks up and grins at the fire as Geoff holds his arm out to her.

“You feed on fire right?” She nods excitedly and dips a hand into the fire engulfing Geoff's arm, transferring it to her own skin. Elyse takes the fires and fashions herself a covering of flames, all the while grinning brightly at the demon. 

“Thank you!” The small phoenix bounces in her place, life restored to her face. James grins at him too, 

“Thanks, now she won't be complaining all the time.” He nudges Elyse but she still slaps his arm and pouts. 

Geoff rolls his eyes and leaves the pair to their domestic squabble, turning instead to Adam and Lawrence. The reaper is all but carrying Adam, basically dragging him along as they walk. 

Taking his unspoken question, Lawrence shrugs. “I'm fine, but Adam needs sleep. He's gonna pass out soon.”

“Am not,” The seer mutters, attempting to stand on his own but nearly falling and hitting the concrete. “‘m fine, jus’ give me a sec.” 

Lawrence gives him a long-suffering sigh and drags Adam closer to him, holding the smaller man up. “See what I have to deal with?” He rolls his eyes, “We're good, don't worry. I'd keep an eye on Kieran though, he's givin’ me weird vibes.”

Geoff is inclined to agree, with how quickly the man had reverted to his ‘programmed’ state, it's a little hard to trust him. But Miles stands for him, and going against Miles would be like going against a hurricane.

He offers a smile to the pair and walks up to Miles and Kieran, determined to be involved in what’s happening. As he draws closer he raises a confused eyebrow, Miles is humming. Not one of his usual magic infused songs, but something Geoff had heard on the radio earlier in the week. Kieran is nodding along silently, smiling softly. 

“You good now?” Miles asks quietly, shooting the tall man a concerned look. “I don't wanna lose you here, especially since we've made so much progress.”

“I am okay,” Kieran assures Miles, “Some habits are hard to break, but I think I will be okay from here on out. But I must thank you for bringing me back as quickly as you did, you may have saved everyone's life.”

The siren laughs and pats Kieran’s shoulder, “You don't have to thank me. And it wouldn't be the first time I saved everyone's ass.” He gives a rueful grin and draws a chuckle out of Kieran,

“I am not surprised, but I would still like to thank you Miles.”

“Well, you're welcome.” He wraps an arm around Kieran’s shoulder fondly.

Geoff clears his throat and nearly laughs when the tall man jumps slightly, Miles just laughing. “What's up, Geoff?”

“Just wanted to know what exactly we’re doing?” The demon shrugs, feigning boredom. “We've been wandering for like ten minutes.”

“Ah,” Kieran nods, “We're looking for the generators, they power this entire facility and keep everything intact. Without them, everything will fall apart. Then we can get Jeremy and the others and get the hell out of here.” 

The sudden emotion is unexpected, Kieran has been pretty apathetic this entire trip. But it appears to be genuine as his face twists in a scowl, reminding Geoff of an upset puppy. 

They walk in silence for a while, Gavin and Jack watching their backs as Kieran searches for the generators. Finally they come upon a locked door with a similar keypad to the door that had taken them down here. 

James steps up without being asked and the door swings open in a surprisingly timely manner considering the still ringing alarms. Geoff ushers the others in as the loud sounds of feet come thundering down the hall, probably the evacuating scientists and surgeons.

Ryan whistles as the door swings shut and they're left to stare at three of the biggest generators Geoff has ever seen. They tower above him, humming incessantly. Surprisingly the room is empty other than the generators, Geoff had expected a guard, considering the apparent importance of the generators. Aside from the security camera in the right side of the room, there is nothing protecting the generators. Even Kieran looks confused by this, glancing around warily.

“There should be more,” He mutters as he inspects the walls, “They always told me this was the most protected part of the lab, but there’s only a camera.” The tall man's voice is soft and confused, making Miles laugh.

“They must have lied, a human skill I've never understood. Though-” He gives the room an appraising look “-I can see why they'd want to protect these.”

“Yes, this is all amazing,” Lawrence rolls his eyes, “Now can we bring these bitches down or what?” 

Kieran nods thoughtfully and inspects the nearest generator, frowning slightly. “We can blow these, or simply disconnect them. Blowing them up will give us exactly an hour to get out and will bring this entire place down on their heads, but we'll be in danger as well. And if we just disconnect them, they'll be able to reopen all their shit in a week tops.” He turns to Geoff and Bruce, “So, what're we doin’?” 

The demon scoffs, “Blowing it, obviously! Overload those bitches, we'll go get the others and see what they've learned.”

Kieran nods, immediately getting to work on the closest generator and instructing Bruce on what to do with the other one. Miles pats Geoff's shoulder and gives him a smile, “Go get them, we'll meet you at the portal in an hour.”

The demon nods and motions to Gavin, Jack, and Ryan, checking the door briefly before heading out.

* * *

 

Trevor is amazed by the technology in the control room, it is nowhere as complex as the magic in the Forest, but enthralling all on it's own. Matt does his best to explain the computers to him, offering to teach him more when they get home. 

But he can't help but notice the tension in Michael as they go through the files. Every time they come upon a file marked ‘failed’ he growls and scrolls faster, making Jeremy frown worriedly. 

Aside from Lindsay, the other Fae hate the cool of the lab, shaking their wings irritably Jon simply frowns and sticks close to Trevor, uneasy around the other Unseelie, an annoying habit he had developed from living in the Seelie kingdom. 

“Why did you bring them?” Jon hisses, pulling Trevor aside. “We did not need to bring  _ Unseelie  _ along.”

“Jon, I  _ am  _ Unseelie, calm down.” Trevor says, “Besides, your father doesn't want them in his kingdom so I figured this was the next best thing.” The Seelie prince crosses his arms and sighs, “I'm still surprised you came with me, we are gonna be in so much trouble when we get back home.” 

Jon shuffles his shoulders and sighs again, “You asked for my help, I helped. It is a simple matter of helping a friend.”

“A friend?” Trevor raises his eyebrows, thoroughly surprised. “I'm surprised, Jon. I'm an  _ Unseelie,  _ what would our fathers say?” He gives a mock gasp and puts a relaxed arm around Jon's shoulder. Reverting to a more serious tone Trevor smiles, “Thank you for coming, it means a lot to me.”

Jon seems to have reached his tolerance for physical contact and slips out of Trevor's loose hold, frowning slightly. “I may have made a mistake, but-” He gives a slight smile “-I do not regret it.”

“Thanks Jon,” Trevor smiles and returns his attention to the computers. He frowns slightly and points to a flashing red light, “I don't know a whole lot about computers, but this doesn't look good.” The light hangs over a map, marking the boiler room. On a whim, Trevor taps the light and it opens into a camera feed. 

The prince smiles and motions for Michael to come over, pointing to the feed. “They found it, and it looks like Geoff is on his way with the others.”

“Great!” Jeremy smiles, “We should meet them halfway, I think we've learned all we need to?” He phrases it as a question and turns to Michael. 

The ghost nods, looking relieved to be getting out of here and Trevor is inclined to agree. Michael reaches around the computer he was working at and unplugs it, grinning widely. “Let's go, I wanna hear how we’re taking this hell hole down.”

* * *

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM ALIVE

The alarm is deafening, forcing Jack to place his hands over his sensitive ears, Gavin doing the same thing a few minutes earlier. And Geoff can feel the beginnings of a headache coming as the alarm continues to blare.

Geoff perks up at the sounds of talking coming down the hall and motions for Jack and Gavin to stop. With their backs pressed against the wall they wait for the voices to turn the corner, ready to attack. 

But as the talking turns the corner they relax, Jeremy meeting them with a relieved grin. “Hey! We were on our way to find you!” 

“Same here,” Geoff says, a feeling of relief washing over him. “We’ve got about an hour to get out of here before everything goes to shit, Kieran and Miles are rigging the generators to blow.”

The look on Michael’s face is one of pure excitement, his grin so wide that Geoff worries it might split his face. “Oh  _ that  _ is going to be amazing, I can’t fucking wait.”

Trevor wanders over to Ryan and the others, striking up a conversation and allowing Michael to rant to Geoff about what they had found. 

“They still had a fucking file on me!” The ghost growls, “Thought my magic could save their keep their experiments alive indefinitely. I'll fucking show them,” Michael seems to get brighter each time his temper flares, his skin gaining a shimmering property. It was probably a side effect of recovering his magic, and Geoff brushes it off. He puts a hand on Michael's shoulder,

“This whole place is going up in flames, I think that's a pretty good payback.”

The ghost sighs, “I guess. But I still wanna wring someone's neck.”

Geoff can't help himself, he nudges Michael lightly and grins. “Kinky.” 

Finally Michael laughs, an actual laugh this time. He shoves the demon playfully and rolls his eyes, “What are you, five?”

“Pretty much,” Ryan answers for him, facing them with a fond smile on his lips. “Are we all good? Cause I'd like to survive the explosion if you don't mind.” 

Confused, Geoff checks his watch, horrified to find they only had half an hour left on the clock. He jumps slightly and turns to Jack, Jeremy, Michael and Gavin. “You need to get out of here, like now.”

Without waiting for an answer, he ushers them in the detection of the elevator. Trevor turns to the Unseelie, as well as Matt, and orders them off, making Jon frown slightly; though he remains at Trevor's side. 

Almost frantically, Geoff spins in place, scanning the hall for a sign or Kieran, Miles, or any of Bruce's crew. But the hall is empty and Geoff knows exactly want he has to do.

He demon turns to Trevor and Jon, sighing heavily. “I'm going to get them, you two need to get out.”

“Fuck no,” Trevor shakes his head, “Miles is one of my people, I am not going to put that on you.”

“Trevor is right,” Jon chimes in, surprising both men. “Miles, no matter how eccentric, is Fae. We never leave one of our own behind.”

“Go with  _ your _ people, they’ll need you.” Trevor urges, already nudging the demon in the right direction, “We’ll be fine, I’ll send Bruce’s people up first.”

Geoff shakes his head but doesn't fight Trevor's guiding push. “Don't fucking die,” is all he manages to say before taking off after his boys. 

As he runs, his lips move in a long forgotten prayer to his father.

* * *

 

“This is a horrible plan,” Jon grumbles, wings flapping twice as hard as he struggles to keep up with Trevor. The other prince gives a breathless laugh and nods,

“Probably, but we're the ones that can open portals.” He takes the soft huff he receives from Jon as a begrudging agreement. 

The halls are long but they make it to the boiler room as marked on the map, throwing the door open in Trevor's haste. 

Miles looks startled for once, eyes wide and confused. “Wha-”

“You have to get out,” Jon says shortly as he brushes past the siren. He finds a suitably smooth wall and starts the painstaking process of opening a gate. 

Trevor moves to help him but is stopped by Miles’ hand on his arm. “Trev, what the fuck is happening?” 

“You've been down here for over half an hour,” He explains, taking the siren’s horrified expression in with tired satisfaction. “Jon and I are going to open a gate and get you all out of here, wanna help?”

It isn't a question and Miles know that, he nods frantically and darts off to help Jon. Trevor turns to Bruce, who had been listening to their conversation, and sighs. The banshee gathers his people, and Kieran, and waits close to the pair of Fae. 

Trevor's heart is beating way too fast, he's acutely aware of the seconds ticking by as the gate is opened. They have fifteen minutes now. 

Ten.

Five.

The gate finally opens and Miles all but drags Kieran through it. Bruce ushers Adam and Lawrence through next, the seer shooting Trevor a sad look. 

He brushes it off and makes sure the rest of Bruce's people get through, they're at three minutes now. 

Finally everyone is gone but the two princes. Jon attempts to let Trevor go ahead but he's pushed through the gate before he can protest. 

He's at half a minute now. 

Trevor leaps through the gate just as his brain hits zero, hitting soft grass as he turns to close the gate. 

He's not fast enough, incredibly heat rolls over his back, wings flapping frantically to get him away from the pain. Trevor screams, he can't help himself. Strong hands drag him away from the gate and he recognizes Jon's quiet voice. 

They must have closed the gate, the fire is gone but Trevor's back and wings are still screaming in pain. 

He fades from the waking world slowly, head cloudy with pain.

* * *

 

Flames issue out of the gate as Trevor comes flying out, huge and uncontrolled. Before Geoff can do anything, Jon rushes forward and lifts the Fae out of harm's way. At the same time Miles yells something at the gate and it closes in on itself, effectively cutting the flames off at their source. 

Geoff and the others rush over to Trevor, drawn by his screams, that had slowly morphed into pained whimpers. 

The tall man is laid on his stomach, exposing his wings. The delicate skin of the wings is nearly gone, hanging off the bones in singed clumps. 

Jon lays his hands at the base of Trevor's wings and they glow a soft green color, soothing a few of the burns along his back. His face is a mixture of anger and worry as Trevor cries out in their native language, making Miles flinch every time he speaks. 

Geoff shoots a look at Adam, who sits against a nearby tree. The seer nods grimly in answer to his unvoiced question, tears gleaming in his eyes. This is what he had seen happening. 

Jeremy grasps Geoff's arm for support as Trevor continues to cry out, his expression pure horror. They kneel at his side but Miles stops them.

“I'm opening a gate for you to go home,” He murmurs, “We’ll take him home.”

The demon nods, following Miles away from Trevor and Jon. Gavin looks squeamish, clinging to Jack and staring down at the ground with wide eyes. Miles ushers them through the gate and gives Geoff a weak smile, “Make sure they’re okay?”

Conflicted, Geoff nods. He grasps Ryan's hand and pulls the witch through before he can protest. If Ryan had been left there he'd have tried to help their oldest friend, and probably burn himself out in the process. Enough damage has already been done today.

The gate closes behind them and an overwhelming feeling of exhaustion overcomes Geoff. Ryan seems to notice and guides the others up to their rooms. He pushes their beds together with a short burst of magic and they settle in, gripping each other like someone would be ripped from their arms once they dozed off. 

They should have been celebrating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay!! Some clarification, it's my personal headcannon that faery wings are made of extremely thin skin and bones and also!!! Trevor's injury will be addressed in another series of fics which will feature Jon, Trev, Miles, Kieran, and probably Lindsay. So look forward to that and enjoy this chapter!


End file.
